Video display system for vehicle

ABSTRACT

A video display system for a vehicle includes a video display device disposed in the vehicle so as to be viewable by a driver of the vehicle. A camera is disposed at the vehicle and having an exterior field of view and operable to capture image data. The field of view of the camera encompasses a blind spot of the vehicle. A control includes a data processor. The control, responsive at least in part to processing by the data processor of data captured by at least one sensor of the vehicle, detects an object present exterior of the vehicle that is in the field of view of the camera. Responsive to detection of the object present exterior of the vehicle, the control controls the video display device to episodically and automatically display video images of the object that are derived from image data captured by the camera.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/131,594, filed Apr. 18, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,632,590,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/556,340,filed Dec. 1, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,317,742, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/097,576, filed Apr. 29, 2011, nowU.S. Pat. No. 8,904,308, which is continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/861,904, filed Sep. 26, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.7,937,667, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional applications,Ser. No. 60/896,134, filed Mar. 21, 2007; Ser. No. 60/902,280, filedFeb. 20, 2007; Ser. No. 60/901,514, filed Feb. 13, 2007; Ser. No.60/900,282, filed Feb. 8, 2007; Ser. No. 60/879,619, filed Jan. 10,2007; Ser. No. 60/850,700, filed Oct. 10, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/847,502,filed Sep. 27, 2006, which are hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to an interior rearview mirrorassembly and, more particularly, to an interior rearview mirror assemblyhaving multimedia capabilities.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to use a personal entertainment device or digital playbackdevice (such as an iPOD® or MP3 player or the like) with a vehicle audiosystem to play songs or other audio signals through the vehicle audiosystem. For example, a playback device may be connected to or mayinclude a transmitter that transmits a radio frequency (RF) signal thatis received by the vehicle radio for playback through the vehicle audiosystem. Alternately, it is known to provide a wired connection between adocking station and the radio so that the playback device (docked to thedocking station) communicates the signal to the radio via a wiredconnection. The playback device is accessed by the user to select thedesired song or playlist or the like, whereby the selected tracks areplayed through the radio and vehicle audio system. The user thus mayhave to look down at the docking station and playback device (typicallyat the instrument panel or a floor-mounted center console of the vehicleor the like) to select the desired songs from a small screen of theplayback device (such as is common on the likes or an iPOD®), such thatthe driver of the vehicle may have to look away from his or her forwardfield of view to select the desired track or playlist or the like.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a multimedia system forplaying tracks from a playback device through the vehicle's audio systemthat overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art and that allows thedriver to readily view a menu or list of options or selectionsassociated with the playback device, such as a listing of song titles orthe like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a multimedia mirror system oruser-interactive display system for a vehicle that provides display(such as a display of song titles or of a menu or the like) and/orcontrol of a digital playback device (such as an iPOD® or a similarpersonal entertainment device such as an MP3 player) at the interiorrearview mirror assembly of the vehicle so that the driver of thevehicle may navigate the menus of the playback device while viewing themenus or listings or information/data associated with the playbackdevice at the mirror-associated display. The mirror assembly may includea control or user input to allow the driver of the vehicle to control ornavigate the menus of the personal, hand-portable playback device (suchas an iPOD®) by accessing the control or user input at the mirror. Thedriver thus may navigate the playback device menus and select a desiredsong or track or playlist while maintaining his or her generally forwardfield of view through the vehicle windshield.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a user-interactivedisplay system for a vehicle includes an interior rearview mirrorassembly having a mounting structure and a reflective element, aportable hand-held device capable of being carried into and out of thevehicle, and a display device at or adjacent the interior rearviewmirror assembly. The portable hand-held device, when carried into thevehicle, is operable to communicate a first signal to a vehicle-basedreceiver. The display device is operable to display a listing of choicesin response to the communication of the first signal. The interiorrearview mirror assembly further includes a user input, which isactuatable by a user so that a user can select an item from the listingof choices displayed by the display device. The user-interactive displaysystem is operable to at least one of (a) display at the display devicedata associated with the selected item in response to the user-selectionof the selected item from the listing of choices, and (b) audibly playat an audio device of the vehicle data associated with the selected itemin response to the user-selection of the selected item from the listingof choices.

The listing of choices displayed by the display device may include atleast one of (a) a listing of voice mail messages of a portable phone,(b) a listing of phone numbers of a portable phone, (c) a listing ofreceived emails, and (d) a listing of songs of a portable playbackdevice. The user input may be actuatable by a user so that a user canselect at least one of (a) displaying at the display device dataassociated with a selected textual item and (b) audibly playing at theaudio device data associated with a converted voice message of aselected textual item.

Optionally, the interior rearview mirror assembly may include a videodisplay device that is operable to display images representative of ascene occurring rearward of the vehicle (such as in response to imagedata captured by a camera or imaging sensor generally at or near therear of the vehicle and/or having a rearward field of view). The videodisplay device may display the images on a display screen, and mayinclude a non-electronic graphic overlay means that is viewable when thevideo display device is activated. The graphic overlay means maycomprise indicia established in front of an illumination source of thevideo display device and viewable at the display screen when the videodisplay device is activated and substantially not viewable at thedisplay screen when the video display device is deactivated.

Optionally, the user-interactive display system may include a navigationdevice support structure for supporting a portable navigation device.The navigation device support structure may comprise an articulatablereceiving structure that is articulatable to adjust an orientation ofthe portable navigation device supported thereon independent ofadjustment of an orientation of the reflective element of the interiorrearview mirror assembly. For example, the navigation device supportstructure may be articulatable between a stowed position, where thereceiving structure is articulated such that the receiving structure anda portable navigation device supported thereon are generally along thewindshield at a mounting base of the mirror assembly, and a useposition, where the receiving structure is articulated such that thereceiving structure and a portable navigation device supported thereonare generally below the reflective element and readily viewable by thedriver of the vehicle.

Optionally, the user-interactive display system is operable to displayinformation at the portable navigation device in a Consumer Hand-heldDisplay Format (where the display may display details, such as mapdetails, street name details, addresses, and/or the like) when theportable navigation device is not supported on the navigation devicesupport structure, and to display information at the portable navigationdevice in an In-vehicle Display Format (where the display may displaylarger icons or the like and/or reduced information for quick viewing bythe driver of the vehicle while the driver is driving the vehicle) whenthe portable navigation device is supported on the navigation devicesupport structure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a multimediamirror system or user-interactive display system for a vehicle includesan interior rearview mirror assembly having a mounting structure and areflective element and a docking station for a digital playback device.The docking station communicates a first signal to a radio or similaraudio device of the vehicle. The first signal is indicative of an audiosignal associated with a selected track of the digital playback device.The docking station communicates a second signal to a receiver of themirror assembly. The second signal is indicative of display informationbeing displayed at the digital playback device. The second signalpreferably is communicated to the receiver via a wireless communicationprotocol (such as a BLUETOOTH® restricted-range RF communicationprotocol). The interior rearview mirror assembly further comprises adisplay device (such as a liquid crystal video screen or a dot matrixdisplay or the like) that is operable to display the display informationin response to the second signal.

Optionally, the interior rearview mirror assembly may include a userinput (such as buttons or a control wheel or joystick or the like) thatis operable to adjust the display information at the display device. Theinterior rearview mirror assembly communicates (preferably wirelessly,such as via an IR or RF wireless transmission) an adjustment output tothe docking station via the wireless communication protocol to adjustthe display information at the digital playback device (such as in amanner similar to adjustments that may typically be accomplished via thethumbwheel at the digital playback device). The user input of the mirrorassembly thus may be adjustable to navigate menus of the digitalplayback device to select a desired track for playing the selected trackvia the vehicle audio system.

Therefore, the present invention provides a multimedia mirror system oruser-interactive display system having an interior rearview mirrorassembly that is in communication with a playback device docking stationand/or a portable telephone and/or telephone docking station to providedisplay and control capabilities of the playback device and/or telephoneat the mirror assembly. The interior rearview mirror provides anenhanced or improved location for the display of the menus of theplayback device and/or telephone so that the driver of the vehicle mayreadily navigate the menus and select the desired songs or playlistswhile maintaining a sufficient forward field of view via the driver'speripheral vision while viewing the display. The radio of the vehiclewould provide the audio controls, such as volume, tone, etc., such as ina typical or known manner. Thus, the mirror assembly and display maycomplement or supplement the playback device at the docking station soas to allow the driver of the vehicle or user of the playback device toaccess and control the menus and make the desired selections forplayback by the playback device while viewing the display at the mirrorassembly, and thus while maintaining his or her forward field of viewforwardly through the windshield of the vehicle, such as while drivingthe vehicle in a forward direction of travel.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a multimedia mirror system in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation and partial sectional view of mirror assemblyand electronics module useful with the multimedia mirror system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is another diagram of the multimedia mirror system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a hands free telephone mirror system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a navigation mirror system in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of another navigation mirror system of the presentinvention, with a slide out video display;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of another navigation mirror system of the presentinvention, with a detachable navigation device at the mirror assembly;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of a mirror assembly and support assembly ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9 is a side perspective view of another mirror assembly and supportassembly of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is another side perspective view of the mirror assembly andsupport assembly of FIG. 9, with the support flipped down to a useposition;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are front elevations of a display that may bedisplayed by a portable navigation device docked at the support assemblyof the mirror assembly and support assembly of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an interior rearview mirror assembly inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic of an interior rearview mirror assembly having anembedded speaker and a PC card interface or connector therein forconnecting to a removable or insertable PC card in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 13A-L are schematics of different PC cards and circuitry oraccessories or functions thereof that are useful with the interiorrearview mirror assembly of FIG. 13;

FIG. 14 is a schematic of an interior rearview mirror assembly having anembedded microphone and a PC card interface or connector therein forconnecting to a removable or insertable PC card in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 14A-L are schematics of different PC cards and circuitry oraccessories or functions thereof that are useful with the interiorrearview mirror assembly of FIG. 14;

FIG. 15 is a schematic of an interior rearview mirror assembly having aPC card interface or connector therein for connecting to a removable orinsertable PC card in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 15A-N are schematics of different PC cards and circuitry oraccessories or functions thereof that are useful with the interiorrearview mirror assembly of FIG. 15;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a HUD device incorporated in or at ornear an interior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 17 is an illustration of a graphic overlay suitable for use withthe present invention;

FIG. 18 is a front elevation of a video display screen with the graphicoverlay of FIG. 17 disposed thereat in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 19 is a front elevation of a video display screen with anothergraphic overlay disposed thereat in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a graphic overlay system in accordancewith the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicle-based multimedia system or user-interactive displaysystem 10 for a vehicle 11 includes an interior rearview mirror assembly12 mounted at an interior portion of the vehicle, a docking station 14,such as a docking station for a portable hand-held device 15, such as adigital playback device, such as an iPOD® or MP3 player or the like, orother portable hand-held device, such as a portable telephone device ora portable internet access or communication device or the like, and avehicle-based radio 16 (FIGS. 1 and 3). The term “portable phone” or“portable communication device” or the like as used herein is intendedto encompass any portable or hand-held communication device, such as acellular telephone or other communication device including personal dataassistants (PDA's) such as BlackBerry® wireless hand-held devices or thelike. Docking station 14 includes a connector or socket or plug orreceiving port 18 for connecting to or docking with the playback deviceand a transmitter 20, such as a BLUETOOTH® transmitter or other suitabletransmitter or protocol, such as, for example, ZIGBEE® or the like, forwireless communication to and with a receiver 22 at the mirror assembly12. The mirror assembly 12 and receiver 22 may receive a communicationfrom the docking station 14, and may communicate a signal to the radio16 for playback of the selection on the playback device through thevehicle audio system, as discussed below. The information displayed atthe playback device (which displays the menu or menus and tracks orplaylists or the like and which is typically controlled by a user inputor thumbwheel of the playback device) may be displayed at a displayscreen or display element 24 of the mirror assembly 12, such that thedriver of the vehicle may select the desired songs or tracks orplaylists by viewing the display at the mirror assembly and thusmaintaining his or her generally forward field of view, as alsodiscussed below. Optionally, the multimedia mirror system oruser-interactive display system may include a text to voice converteroperable to convert textual data associated with the selected item intoa converted voice message.

The portable hand-held device or playback device may comprise anyportable hand-held device that is capable of being carried into and outfrom the vehicle by a user of the device. For example, the device maycomprise a digital playback device, such as an iPOD® or MP3 player orthe like, or a portable telephone device or a portable internet accessor portable hand-held communication device (such as a BlackBerry®wireless device) or the like. The device may generate a listing ofchoices, which may be displayed by the display device, and which mayinclude at least one of (a) a listing of voice mail messages of aportable phone, (b) a listing of phone numbers of a portable phone, (c)a listing of received emails, and (d) a listing of titles or tracks(such as of songs or stories or other files) stored in the memory of aportable playback device or downloadable from an external provider. Thelisting of choices thus may include textual data (such as emails orphone listings or the like) or audio data (such as voice mail messagesor the like) or songs or audio tracks or the like.

The mirror assembly 12 may be mounted at the inner surface of thevehicle windshield (referred to generally at 11 a in FIG. 1) or thelike, while the radio 16 is typically mounted or installed at theinstrument panel (referred to generally at 11 b in FIG. 1) of thevehicle. The docking station 14 may be disposed or located or installedat the instrument panel or a floor mounted center console or the like(such as shown in FIG. 1), or may be located at a windshield electronicsmodule or accessory module 36 or the like (such as shown in FIG. 2) orother location where it is readily accessible by the driver of thevehicle (when sitting in the driver's seat 11 c of the vehicle).

Docking station 14 may be similar to known docking stations and includesa docking port 18 for connecting to the playback device. The dockingstation is connected to a power source, such as to the vehicle powersource or battery and vehicle ground, and preferably to the vehicleignition so that the docking station is powered when the vehicleignition is on. The docking station may be hardwired to the vehicleradio or may include an FM modulator 37 to transmit an FM signal thatthe radio may receive for audio playback of the selected songs or tracksor playlists. Optionally, and preferably, the docking station includes acharging device 42 (FIG. 3) to charge the battery of the playback devicewhen the playback device is docked at the docking station, andpreferably only when the vehicle ignition is on (so as to limit drain onthe vehicle battery when the vehicle is parked).

The driver thus may access the radio to select the desired input orradio station (so that the radio may receive a signal for playback oftracks from the playback device if desired) and/or to adjust the volumeof the audio system, such as in a known manner. The radio 16 may receivean output signal from the docking station 14 (when the playback device15 is docked thereat and activated), such as via a wired connectionbetween the radio and docking station and/or via a RF signal and/or viaother wireless communication interfaces or via a vehicle bus interface,such as a LIN or LAN interface or network or the like.

The user of the playback device thus may dock or plug in the playbackdevice to the docking station or cradle, such as via known connectionmeans and/or by utilizing aspects of the systems described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,012,727; 6,902,284; 6,648,477; 6,428,172; 6,026,162 and/or5,940,503, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filedJun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The docking station may communicate an output signalto the radio (such as via FM modulator 37 of the docking station or viaa hard-wire connection with the radio) for playing of the selected trackthrough the vehicle audio system, and may also communicate an outputsignal via the transmitter 20 that is received by receiver 22 at themirror assembly 12 (such that there is a wireless interface between thedocking station or cradle and the multimedia mirror assembly). Theoutput signal transmitted by transmitter 20 to receiver 22 of mirrorassembly 12 may be indicative of the information or menu/menus displayedat the display screen of the playback device, and may be received byreceiver 22 at the mirror assembly 12, whereby the display element ordisplay screen 24 of mirror assembly 12 may display the information forviewing by the driver of the vehicle. The driver may use the user inputor thumbwheel at the playback device to scroll through the menus andselect the desired track or playlist or the like while viewing the menusand other displayed information at the display element 24 of the mirrorassembly 12, or optionally may use a user input 26, such as a button ordial or thumbwheel or the like, at the mirror assembly to scroll throughthe menus being displayed at the display element 24 of mirror assembly12.

The driver thus may plug in or dock the playback device 15 into thedocking station 14 (and thereby also preferably electricallyrecharging/powering the docked/connected device), whereby the dockingstation 14 may communicate with the playback device and may transmit thedisplay information signal to the mirror assembly for viewing of thedisplay menus at the mirror assembly. The driver of the vehicle thus maynavigate or scroll through the playback device menus to make a desiredselection for playback while enhancing the driver's forward field ofview and peripheral vision of the road ahead of the vehicle (since thedriver does not have to look down to the docking station to see themenus).

The docking station may communicate the playback signal/signals to theradio (such as via an RF signal or wired signal or wirelesscommunication) or to a receiver of another audio device of the vehicle,and/or to the receiver 22 of mirror assembly 12. Optionally, the dockingstation 14 may communicate the playback signal or signals to the mirrorassembly 12, whereby a transmitter of the mirror assembly (or othersuitable communication device or element) may communicate the signal orsignals to the radio (such as via a wired connection between the mirrorassembly and the radio or via a wireless communication interface orprotocol) for playing the selected track or tracks through the vehicle'saudio system. Optionally, the mirror assembly may include a speaker orspeakers for playing the selected tracks without connection to thevehicle audio system. For example, the mirror assembly may include smallhigh-fidelity speakers or thin film speakers (such as substantially flatspeaker film capable of generating high quality sound), which may bedisposed at selected or desired locations at the mirror assembly.Optionally, the audio playback may be through a speaker or speakers ofthe portable hand-held device itself, depending on the particularapplication.

Optionally, and desirably, the mirror assembly 12 includes the userinput 26, such as a button or dial or thumbwheel or joystick orproximity sensor or the like, that allows the driver or user of thesystem to control or scroll through the menus of the playback device atthe mirror, whereby the menus and playlists and the like (of theplayback device) are displayed at the display element 24 of mirrorassembly 12 and adjusted via the user input 26 of mirror assembly 12.Optionally, the display screen may comprise a touch screen 24′ (FIG. 3)to allow the user to control and select menu options and the like bytouching the appropriate display item or menu at the display screen 24of the mirror assembly. The user of the playback device thus may controlthe playback device and view the display information of the playbackdevice at the rearview mirror 12. Thus, the driver of the vehicle mayselect display information (that may include video imagery and/ortextural or iconistic information) and/or audio playback tracks orselections while maintaining a forward field of view.

Optionally, the multimedia mirror system or user-interactive displaysystem of the present invention may include a text to voice converterthat is operable to convert textual data associated with a selected item(as selected by the user from the playlist or list of items) into aconverted voice message, such that the user can listen to a selectedtext message if desired. Optionally, a user input (such as at the userinput at the mirror assembly) may be actuatable by a user so that a usercan select at least one of (a) displaying at the display device dataassociated with a selected textual item and (b) audibly playing at theaudio device data associated with a converted voice message of aselected textual item. For example, the user may select an email from alist of emails, and may elect to view the email on the display or mayselect a conversion of the selected email into an audio message (such asan audio message output by the speakers of the vehicle's radio or othervehicle or mirror speakers or by the speaker or speakers of the portableplayback device), whereby the user may hear an audible signal indicativeof or representative of the text of the selected email. Optionally, theemail may also be displayed at the display device, if desired orselected by the user of the system.

Thus, the mirror assembly 12 and display 24 may complement or supplementthe playback device at the docking station 14 so as to allow the driverof the vehicle or user of the playback device to access and control themenus and make the desired selections for playback by the playbackdevice while viewing the display at the mirror assembly 12. Themultimedia mirror system of the present invention thus provides adisplay and control function for playback devices such as iPODs and MP3players and the like, while allowing the driver to see the playbackdevice menus at the mirror and, at least peripherally, the forward fieldof view of the road ahead of the vehicle. Thus, the complementary orsupplementary mirror assembly allows for control and selection ofplayback items or tracks or playlists by the driver of the vehicle whilethe driver maintains his or her forward field of view forwardly throughthe windshield of the vehicle, such as while driving the vehicle in aforward direction of travel.

Optionally, the display of the mirror assembly may be voice controlled,so that the driver or user may vocalize a desired command, such as“scroll down” or “select” or “play” or “stop” or “pause” or the like toscroll through the menus and make the desired selection. The mirrorassembly thus may include a microphone for receiving the voice command,whereby a control or signal processor of the mirror assembly may processthe received command to identify or recognize the command and to controlthe display and/or the playback device accordingly.

Optionally, an image sensor or camera device may be incorporated intothe mirror with a field of view toward the driver or passenger area ofthe front seats so as to capture images of an occupant in the front seator seats. The image sensor may capture images, and an image processormay process image data and may function to recognize movement, such assimple hand gestures or the like, for alternative human-machineinterface (HMI) control. An image processor such as those described inU.S. Pat. No. 5,877,897 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/651,726,filed Jan. 10, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,406, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, may be used. Forexample, an EyeQ™ vision system-on-a-chip image processor, availablefrom MobilEye N.V. (see www.mobilieye-vision.com), may be used. Suchhand gesture recognition may offer potential safety benefits for sometypes of secondary controls and special conditions, such as, forexample, where a noisy environment which may impede voice commands, orwhere the physical location of the mirror is too far to reach for touchscreen control or the like. Also, such hand gesture recognition allowsthe driver to control the device or mirror without having to shift hisor her visual concentration from the road ahead—to the task—and back tothe road again. Because some tasks require more than one glance, andbecause each glance from the road could take between about 0.5 secondsand about 2 seconds, limiting such distractions is a benefit to thedriver of the vehicle. Optionally, a laser device or a glove-baseddevice (where sensors may be worn by the driver to detect the handmotions) or other sensors may also or otherwise be used instead of acamera. Optionally, the image processor may be operable to recognize thegestures as defined by ASL (American Sign Language), in order to assistthe deaf community.

Optionally, the mirror system of the present invention may include auser input or control at the rear passenger compartment of the vehicleso that a passenger in the rear vehicle seat may control the audiodevice at the docking station. For example, a touch screen may beembedded at the rear of the headrest of the front seat or seats of thevehicle, whereby a passenger at the rear seat may control the audiodevice or iPOD® for music selection or the like. Optionally, the rearseat control screen may receive a video feed from the docking cradle(such as via a hard wired connection or a RF communication link, such asBLUETOOTH® or the like, or other suitable communication link) so thatthe rear passenger or passengers may view at the rear of the vehiclefront seats the same video images and other informational displays asare displayed on the screen of the portable electronic device (such as ahand-held portable GPS navigational device) brought into the vehicle bythe driver or another occupant of the vehicle (and removable therefromat journey's end).

Mirror assembly 12 includes a reflective element 28 and casing 30 and isadjustably mounted to the interior surface of the windshield of thevehicle via a mounting structure or mirror support structure 32.Optionally, the mounting structure 32 may mount or attach to the vehiclewindshield via a conventional channel mount or mounting button (notshown in FIG. 1), such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,820,097;5,487,522; 5,671,996; 5,820,097; 5,615,857; 5,330,149; 5,100,095;4,930,742, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, which may provide a break-away mounting or release mechanismas is known in the art. Although shown and described as being mounted tothe vehicle windshield, it is envisioned that, optionally, the mirrorassembly may be located or attached elsewhere at the vehicle, such as atan overhead console or headliner of the vehicle or the like. Optionally,the mounting structure may mount to the windshield and/or headlinerand/or overhead console or the like via other suitable mounting means,such as by utilizing aspects of the mounting elements described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,824,281; 5,487,522; 5,615,857 or 5,671,996, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/958,087, filed Oct. 4, 2004, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,188,963; and/or Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 andpublished Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, mirror assembly 12 comprises anasymmetric mirror assembly with the mirror reflective element 28 beingoff-center relative to the support structure 32 and toward the driverside of the vehicle, and the display 24 being at the passenger side ofthe vehicle when the mirror assembly is installed in the vehicle. Such amirror assembly may provide enhanced display characteristics bypositioning the display outside of the direct field of view through therear window of the vehicle, such as described in PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May 10, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/053710; and U.S. provisionalapplications, Ser. No. Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8, 2006; and Ser.No. 60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. For example, the reflectiveelement (typically a prismatic mirror element or an electrochromicmirror element) of a typical interior rearview mirror assembly may bealigned so as to have a rearward field of view through the rear windowof the vehicle. The length of the reflective element of the mirrorassembly may be increased in size so that the passenger-side length isincreased by about 2½ to 3 inches (relative to where the support armattaches) so as to accommodate a video display element or screen (suchas described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety). The video screen may be located atthe outer, expanded passenger side region of the asymmetric mirrorassembly, and thus may have a field of view that is outside the field ofview through the rear window (and thus not directly subject to sunlightstreaming in through the rear window on a sunny day). By placing thevideo screen outside the direct field of view through the rear window,the mirror assembly may significantly reduce display washout on sunnydays.

Display element or screen 24 of mirror assembly is thus located at ortoward the passenger side of the vehicle when mirror assembly 12 ismounted at the vehicle. The display element 24 may comprise a videodisplay element or device or may be display-on-demand or transflectivetype display or other display, such as by utilizing aspects of thedisplays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 5,668,663 and/or5,724,187, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filedJun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018; and/or Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 andpublished Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008, and/orPCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 andpublished Nov. 23, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/124682,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, or may include or incorporate video displays or the like,such as the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/orSer. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 asU.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983;and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 andpublished May 10, 2007 as International Publication No. WO 2007/053710;and U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8,2006; Ser. No. 60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/732,245,filed Nov. 1, 2005, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Optionally, the mirror assembly may include a videodisplay that is selectively positionable, such as extendable/retractableor pivotable or foldable so as to be selectively positioned at a side orbelow the mirror casing when in use and storable within or at leastpartially within the mirror casing when not in use. The display may beautomatically activated and/or may automatically extend/pivot to anin-use position in response to an actuating event, such as when theplayback device is activated (and/or optionally, when the display isassociated with a rearward vision system or back up aid, when thevehicle is shifted into its reverse gear).

Optionally, for example, the display may comprise a 3.5 inch (or largeror smaller depending on the particular application) touch screen and/orvideo display. For example, the display may comprise a backlit videodisplay such as the types described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov.22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No.US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May 10, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/053710; and U.S. provisionalapplications, Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8, 2006; Ser. No.60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/732,245, filed Nov. 1,2005, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Optionally, the intensity of the display may beautomatically adjusted to automatically dim the backlighting of thedisplay element, such as in response to a photo sensor 44 (FIG. 3) atthe mirror assembly. The intensity of the display may thus be increasedwhen the photo sensor senses an increase in ambient lighting so that theuser may readily view and discern the display in high ambient lightingconditions, such as a sunny day, and may be decreased when the photosensor senses an decrease in ambient lighting so that the display is nottoo bright in low lighting conditions to avoid being a distraction tothe driver of the vehicle.

Optionally, the display may be operable to display information forviewing by the driver of the vehicle and also to display information orvideo for viewing by the passenger of the vehicle. For example, theoutput of the docking station that is received by the receiver at themirror assembly may include video data (such as a movie or the like thatis played by the playback device) for viewing by the passenger of thevehicle while the driver is driving the vehicle. Thus, the display maybe configured such that the video is viewable by the passenger butsubstantially or principally not viewable by the driver of the vehicle(while other information, such as the selection menus and the like, maybe viewed by the driver of the vehicle). The display may include louversor microlouvers (such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,764,410;4,766,023; 4,906,085; 5,254,388; 5,303,322; 5,313,335 and 5,481,409,and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 andpublished Nov. 23, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/124682,and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 andpublished May 10, 2007 as International Publication No. WO 2007/053710;and U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8,2006; Ser. No. 60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/732,245,filed Nov. 1, 2005, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties), such as at a video display portion of the display todirect the video display toward the passenger side (and maybe downwardas well) to enhance viewing of the video display by a person sitting inthe front passenger seat of the vehicle, while another display portionincludes louvers or microlouvers that direct the menu information at theother display portion toward the driver of the vehicle for viewing bythe driver.

Optionally, the display may be configured such that the viewedinformation or display changes depending on the viewing angle of thedisplay, such that the driver views the display and sees themenu/selection information, while the passenger views the display andsees the video (or other display information as desired). Optionally,the display may selectively display the desired or appropriate displayimages or video images toward the driver or passenger side of thevehicle via a mechanical selective tilting or angling or canting of thedisplay element toward the selected side (such as via a pivot actuatorthat adjusts the display element or display module within the mirrorcasing relative to the reflective element to set the display element),such that the projected images are projected or emitted at the desiredor appropriate or selected angle. Thus, the passenger may watch a videoat the interior rearview mirror assembly (with the audio to the moviebeing output through the vehicle audio system as described above orthrough headphones or ear-buds connected to the playback device and/ordocking station), while limiting interference or distraction to thedriver while the driver is driving the vehicle.

Preferably, the mirror-located (or optionally windshield electronicsmodule (WEM)-located) single video screen is a multi-viewing videoscreen, such as a dual-viewing screen or such as a Triple DirectionalViewing LCD Screen, such as are available from Sharp Corporation andSharp Laboratories of Europe, Ltd., who have developed a TripleDirectional Viewing LCD that comprises a display that controls theviewing angle so that the display can show different images from theleft, right, and center simultaneously. Alternatively, a two-wayviewing-angle LCD screen with switchable viewing-angle LCD constructioncan be used. Such Triple Directional Viewing LCD screens from Sharpcontrol the viewing-angle via a parallax barrier on a standard thin filmtransistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) video display element,whereby the screen splits light in three directions (such as left,right, and center) and displays three separate images on the same screen(and preferably over substantially the entire or full screen) at thesame time. For example, the driver can view the interior mirror-locatedor WEM-located video screen for playlists and/or driver informationand/or the like (preferably on-demand or episodically so that when asong or a menu selection is chosen, the image at a display on demandtransflective mirror reflector, for example, is no longer seen by thedriver), while the person in the passenger seat sees a different image(maybe a TV show), and the person in the back seat enjoys a movie onDVD, with all of the displays being displayed in full-screen view at themirror-located or WEM-located display. Such a triple directional viewingscreen thus provides at the mirror or WEM a single LCD video screen thatplays three roles at once.

Optionally, and with reference to FIG. 2, the mirror assembly 12′ of aplayback system 10′ may be supported via a support structure 32′ at awindshield electronics module (WEM) or accessory module 36, which inturn may be mounted to or affixed to the interior surface of the vehiclewindshield 11 a. The mirror assembly may be supported in abutton-on-button mounting arrangement with the windshield electronicsmodule, such as by utilizing aspects of U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,281 and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/958,087, filed Oct. 4, 2004, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,188,963, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Optionally, the mirror assembly may be mounted to theinterior surface of the windshield and the windshield electronics modulemay attach to the mirror mounting structure or to the windshield at ornear the mounting location of the mirror assembly, without affecting thescope of the present invention.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 2, support structure 32′ comprisesa double ball mounting or support structure and includes a support arm32 a′ that is pivotally attached to the mirror head or casing 30′ (suchas at a pivot joint 33 a′) and to a mirror support base 32 b′ (such asat a pivot joint 33 b′). The mirror head or casing thus may be pivotedrelative to the windshield to adjust the rearward field of view of thedriver via the mirror reflective element 28′, such as is known in theautomotive mirror art. The mirror support base 32 b′ is mounted to arearward surface of windshield electronics module 36, such as at aconventional or known channel mount or mounting button 38 a′, while aforward surface of windshield electronics module 36 is mounted to theinterior surface of the vehicle windshield at another channel mount ormounting button 38 b′ (typically adhered or bonded to the interiorsurface of the windshield of the vehicle, such as in a manner known inthe vehicle mirror art).

As shown in FIG. 2, windshield electronics module 36 may include adocking station or port 40 for receiving or docking a digital playbackdevice (such as an iPOD® or MP3 player or the like), such as in asimilar manner as described above with respect to docking station 14.Docking station 40 may be in communication with the radio and/or themirror display in a similar manner as described above, and maycommunicate signals wirelessly or via a wired connection, depending onthe particular application of the windshield electronics module andmirror assembly. Optionally, in such an application, the windshieldelectronics module may include a user input or thumbwheel or the like(such as at a lower portion of the module where the user input may bereadily accessible by the driver of the vehicle) to allow the driver tocontrol the menu/display at the mirror assembly, or the user input maybe disposed at the mirror assembly and near the display element such asdescribed above. Optionally, the docking port of the mirror system maybe disposed at the mirror assembly itself, such as at an elongated footor cowling at the mounting base of the mounting structure, or thedocking port may be disposed at a fixed casing or housing of a mirrorassembly, such as a fixed casing of the type described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/842,328, filed Aug. 21, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.7,722,199, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Optionally, with a microphone and a phone docking station or cradle, ahands free telephone system may be integrated with the mirror system andmirror assembly. Optionally, such a hands free telephone system may workwith a BLUETOOTH® compatible telephone such that the phone dockingstation would not be needed. Such a hands free telephone and mirrorsystem would provide a display and control function for a portabletelephone. The mirror provides an enhanced location for the user tonavigate menus and/or phone number listings/contact information to allowthe user to select the desired contact while maintaining the user's(such as the driver of the vehicle) forward field of view through thewindshield.

For example, and with reference to FIG. 4, a telephone mirror system 110includes an interior rearview mirror assembly 112 and a telephonedocking station or cradle 114 (each of which may be connected to theignition and ground of the vehicle). The telephone docking station 114includes a docking port for docking a portable telephone (such as acellular telephone or the like) and may include a charging device orelement 142 for charging the battery of the telephone when the telephoneis docked at the docking station. The phone docking station includes atransmitter 120, such as a BLUETOOTH® or ZIGBEE® compatible transmitter,for transmitting menu or display information from the docked telephoneto a receiver 122 at the mirror assembly 112. The mirror assemblyincludes a display 124 (such as a static touch screen display) fordisplaying the telephone display and includes a user input that isoperable to allow the user to navigate the telephone menus and to scrollthrough contact listings and the like, such as via a thumbwheel orjoystick or touch screen or the like. Optionally, and desirably, thedisplay 124 may comprise an automatic dimming backlit display that isoperable to increase/decrease the intensity of the display in responseto an output of a photo sensor 144 that senses the light or glare at ornear the mirror assembly. Optionally, the mirror assembly and/or displaymay also or otherwise have manual dimming controls for manuallyadjusting the intensity of the display.

The mirror assembly may include a speaker 146 for providing an audiooutput to the user and a microphone 148 for receiving an audio input orvoice signal from the user. The wireless communication interface betweenthe docking station and the mirror allows the user to speak toward themirror whereby the voice signal is received by the microphone and thevoice signal is transmitted or communicated to the docking station andto the docked telephone at the docking station. Likewise, thecommunication interface allows the audio signal from the telephone to becommunicated to the speaker at the mirror assembly (via the dockingstation) so that the user may hear the audio signal.

Thus, a user may dock the portable telephone at the docking station andmay navigate the telephone menus to select and dial the desired contact.The user may then converse with the dialed or connected person orcontact via the mirror-based speaker and mirror-based microphone withouthaving to look down to the docked telephone and thus without having totake his or her eyes off the road ahead of the vehicle. Optionally, aBLUETOOTH® compatible telephone may communicate directly with the mirrorand the radio (whereby the audio signals from the telephone may beoutput through the vehicle audio system) thus eliminating the need forthe docking station. Optionally, the vehicle may be integrated with abus (such as CAN, MOST, and/or the like), and the system may have anautomatic radio mute function to automatically mute the vehicle radio oraudio system when an incoming call is detected or when the user selectsthe telephone function.

Therefore, the mirror assembly may be in communication with a playbackdevice docking station and/or a portable telephone and/or telephonedocking station to provide display and control capabilities of theplayback device and/or telephone at the mirror assembly. The interiorrearview mirror provides an enhanced or improved location for thedisplay of the menus of the playback device and/or telephone so that thedriver of the vehicle may readily navigate the menus and select thedesired songs or playlists while maintaining a sufficient forward fieldof view via the driver's peripheral vision while viewing the display.The radio of the vehicle would provide the audio controls, such asvolume, tone, etc., such as in a typical or known manner. Optionally,the display may be a slideout video display or a display on demandtransflective display, and may be controlled by a user input (such as athumbwheel or joystick control or the like) at the mirror assembly.Optionally, the display may be controlled via a voice activated control,wherein the mirror assembly or windshield electronics module may includea microphone for receiving the voice commands. Thus, the mirror assemblyand display may complement or supplement the playback device at thedocking station so as to allow the driver of the vehicle or user of theplayback device to access and control the menus and make the desiredselections for playback by the playback device while viewing the displayat the mirror assembly. The multimedia mirror system of the presentinvention thus provides a display and control function for playbackdevices such as iPODs and MP3 players and the like, while allowing thedriver to see the playback device menus at the mirror and, at leastperipherally, the forward field of view of the road ahead of thevehicle. Thus, the complementary or supplementary mirror assembly allowsfor control and selection of playback items or tracks or playlists bythe driver of the vehicle while the driver maintains his or her forwardfield of view forwardly through the windshield of the vehicle, such aswhile driving the vehicle in a forward direction of travel.

Optionally, a vehicle navigation system may be integrated with themirror system and mirror assembly. Optionally, the navigation system mayinclude a docking station for docking a portable hand-held navigationdevice, or such a vehicle navigation system may work with a BLUETOOTH®compatible navigation device (such as a hand-held or portable navigationdevice with wireless communication capabilities or other communicationcapabilities, such as wired communication), such that a docking stationwould not be needed. Such a navigation mirror system would provide adisplay and control function for a navigation device. The mirrorprovides an enhanced location for the user to navigate menus and/orroutes or waypoint information to allow the user to select the desireddestination and/or route while maintaining the user's (such as thedriver of the vehicle) forward field of view through the windshield.Optionally, the navigation device or docking station may be in wireless(or wired) communication with the vehicle radio, whereby audibleinformation provided by the navigation device may be heard through thevehicle sound system and may be controlled (such as volume, tone and thelike) via the radio controls.

For example, and with reference to FIG. 5, a navigation mirror system210 includes an interior rearview mirror assembly 212 and a navigationdevice or navigation “black box” 214 (or optionally, a navigation devicedocking station or cradle for receiving a portable hand-held navigationdevice), each of which may be connected to the ignition and ground ofthe vehicle. The navigation device 214 includes a transmitter 220, suchas a BLUETOOTH® or ZIGBEE® compatible transmitter, for transmitting menuor display information from the navigation device 214 to a receiver 222at the mirror assembly 212. The mirror assembly 212 includes a display224 (such as a static touch screen display with auto dimming backlight)for displaying the navigation display and includes a user input 226 thatis operable to allow the user to navigate the navigation menus and toscroll through waypoints, destinations, routes and the like, such as viaa thumbwheel or joystick or touch screen or the like. Optionally, anddesirably, the display 224 may comprise an automatic dimming backlitdisplay that is operable to increase/decrease the intensity of thedisplay in response to an output of a photo sensor 244 that senses thelight or glare at or near the mirror assembly.

The navigation device 214 includes navigational circuitry 214 a and aGPS antenna 214 b to determine the geographical location of the vehicleand to provide routes to targeted or selected destinations, such as byutilizing aspects of known navigational devices and/or the devices ofthe types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,862,594; 4,937,945; 5,131,154;5,255,442; 5,632,092; 5,798,688; 5,971,552; 5,924,212; 6,243,003;6,278,377; 6,420,975; 6,946,978; 6,477,464; 6,678,614 and/or 7,004,593,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/645,762, filed Aug. 20, 2003,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,796; Ser. No. 10/529,715, filed Mar. 30, 2005,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,052; Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018;and/or Ser. No. 10/964,512, filed Oct. 13, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,308,341, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Optionally, the mirror or navigation device mayinclude a microphone, whereby the mirror or navigation device mayprovide voice activated control of the navigation device.

Optionally, navigation device 214 may include an FM modulator 214 c (orother suitable transmitter or communication device) so that thenavigation device can communicate wirelessly to the vehicle radio 216.For example, audio messages or signals (such as voice instructions suchas “turn right at maple street”) may be communicated by navigationdevice 214 to radio 216 and may be heard via the vehicle audio system.The audio messages or signals may be controlled via the radio controlsto control the volume or tone or the like of the audio signal. Themirror system may have an override function where the normal radiofunction or program is muted and the navigation audio signal is playedthrough the vehicle sound system to enhance the driver's ability to hearand discern the audible navigation instructions or signals. Optionally,the navigation device may include a speaker, and thus may eliminate theconnection (either wireless or hardwired) between the navigation deviceand the vehicle radio.

Optionally, the radio may be hardwired to the navigation device or themirror, and/or the navigation device may be hardwired to the mirror toeliminate the wireless links. Optionally, the navigation circuitry maybe incorporated into the mirror, thereby eliminating the navigationdevice or docking station or “black box”. In such an application, themirror may include or may be connected to a GPS antenna and may be incommunication with the vehicle radio, such as in a similar manner asdescribed above.

Optionally, and as shown in FIG. 5, the display 224 may comprise astatic display, such as a static video display screen (such as a displayutilizing aspects of the displays described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240and/or 6,329,925, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, or a display-on-demand or transflective type displayor other display utilizing aspects of the displays described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 5,668,663 and/or 5,724,187, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/054,633, filed Jan. 22, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No.7,195,381; Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,255,451; Ser. No. 10/528,269, filed Mar. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,274,501; Ser. No. 10/533,762, filed May 4, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,184,190; Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar.9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; Ser. No. 11/226,628,filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008; Ser. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,338,177; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 andpublished Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, and/or PCT Patent Application No.PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov. 23, 2006 asInternational Publication No. WO 2006/124682; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May 10, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/053710; and U.S. provisionalapplications, Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8, 2006; Ser. No.60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/732,245, filed Nov. 1,2005, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003 andpublished Jul. 15, 2004 as International Publication No. WO 2004/058540,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties). Alternately, the display screen may comprise a display(such as a backlit LCD video display) that is movable to extend from themirror casing when activated. For example, and with reference to FIG. 6,a navigation mirror system 210′ includes an interior rearview mirrorassembly 212′ with a slide out display 224′, which may extend sidewardly(preferably toward the passenger side of the vehicle so as to notinterfere with the driver's forward field of view when extended) forviewing by the driver of the vehicle. Such a slide out display 224′ maycomprise an analog liquid crystal display (such as a 3.5 inch analogLCD) with an auto dimming backlight, and may utilize aspects of thedisplay devices described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov.22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No.US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, and/or PCT PatentApplication No. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov.23, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/124682; and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May10, 2007 as International Publication No. WO 2007/053710; and U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8, 2006; Ser.No. 60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/732,245, filed Nov.1, 2005, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Navigation mirror system 210′ may otherwise be substantiallysimilar to navigation mirror system 210, discussed above, such that adetailed discussion of the navigation mirror systems need not berepeated herein. The similar or common components or elements or devicesof the navigation mirror systems are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 with likereference numbers. Optionally, and preferably, the display isepisodically extended, such as to display driving instructions to thedriver as the vehicle approaches a waypoint or turn along the selectedroute, and then retracted after the vehicle has passed the waypoint andcontinues along the selected route.

Optionally, the display on the video screen may be operable to displayan alert to the driver of a potential hazardous condition detected aheadof or in the forward path of the vehicle. For example, an output of aforward-viewing active night vision system incorporating an imagingsensor or camera device and near-IR floodlighting (such as thosedescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,897 and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/651,726, filed Jan. 10, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,406, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties), or anoutput of another suitable forward facing sensor or system such apassive far-IR thermal imaging night vision sensor/camera, may beprocessed by an image processor, such as, for example, an EyeQ™ imageprocessing chip available from Mobileye Vision Technologies Ltd. ofJerusalem, Israel. Such image processors include object detectionsoftware (such as the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,038,577; and/orSer. No. 11/315,675, filed Dec. 22, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,720,580,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties),and they analyze image data to detect objects. The image processor orcontrol may determine if a potentially hazardous condition (such as anobject or vehicle or person or deer or the like) may exist in thevehicle path and may provide an alert signal (such as by actuation of avisual indicator or an audible indicator or by an enhancement/overlay ona video display screen that is showing a video image to the driver ofwhat the night vision sensor/camera is seeing) to prompt/alert thedriver of a potential hazard (such as a deer or a pedestrian or a fallenrock or the like) as needed or appropriate. The display thus may providean episodal alert so that the driver's attention is drawn to the displayalert only when there is a potential hazard detected. Such a systemavoids the driver from having to look forward out the windshield whileoften looking to or watching a monitor running a video of the camera'soutput, which is not particularly consumer-friendly and simply loads thedriver with yet another task.

Using an image processor coupled to a forward-facing night visionsensor, the likes of a display-on-demand or transflective video mirror(or any other suitable display device viewable by the driver in thecabin of the vehicle) can be used such that the night vision video imageis turned on for display to and for viewing by the driver of the videoimages being captured by the night vision sensor/camera only when theimage processor determines that there is a potential hazard ahead.Because the night vision image is presented for view by the driverepisodically and “on-demand” only when the image processor hasdetermined that a potentially hazardous condition may exist, thedriver's attention is automatically drawn to the night vision image byits episodal appearance, and so driver fatigue and overload is obviatedby only having the night vision image be presented to the driver whenthe image processor (such as an EyeQ™ vision system-on-a-chip imageprocessor or the like) determines and decides there may be a potentialhazard on the road ahead and beyond the visible range of the vehicle'sheadlighting.

Optionally, the video display may be supplemented or augmented with anaudible or haptic/tactile alert. Optionally, and particularly for alow-cost night vision system, the video display may be obviated and analert device may optionally be provided with and/or a visual alert (suchas an iconistic indicator of a hazard ahead), which may be generatedbased on an output of the image processor.

Optionally, the display by the display screen may be episodicallyenhanced in response to a detection of a potentially hazardous conditionin the vehicle path. For example, the display system may enhance thedisplay of the forward field of view when an object is detected in theroad ahead of the vehicle. For example, the display may be enhanced byhighlighting or automatically zooming into or enlarging the image of thedetected object in the display or zooming and framing the image of thedetected object or flashing the image of the detected object orotherwise modifying or enhancing the display and particularly the imageof the detected object, so as to rapidly draw the driver's attention tothe image of the detected object. For example, if a deer (or otherobject) is detected in the road ahead of the vehicle, the image of thedeer (which may be captured by an image sensor supplemented with a nearinfrared illumination source, such as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,877,897 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/651,726, filed Jan.10, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,311,406, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties) may be enlarged or flashed orhighlighted or framed or the like, so that the driver is quickly alertedto the detection of a deer (or other object) in the road. Thus, by usingan image processor (as described above), the cost and complexity ofproviding an actual video display to the driver of the images capturedby the imaging sensor (such as a night vision sensor) can be obviated.Instead of displaying on an actual video screen, the video imagescaptured by the likes of a night vision imaging sensor/camera are fed toan image processor (such as an EyeQ™ video system-on-a-chip), and objectdetection/pattern recognition/scenic analysis/spatial differentiationand similar image processing techniques are used by the image processorto distinguish that an object may be ahead of and in the forward path oftravel of the vehicle, whereupon a visual/audible/haptic alert may begenerated to alert the driver to look carefully ahead and/or to slowdown because there may be a hazard ahead (and if the driver is ignoringsuch an alert, then the vehicle may optionally be automaticallydecelerated/stopped). The image processor thus takes the role of thedriver's “eyes and brain” in terms of analyzing the imaged data. Also,because there is machine vision at play here, the resolution of theimaging sensor (such as a night vision sensor/camera, such as a passivethermal-pile far-IR multipixel sensor) may be reduced/degraded because ahuman is not viewing the imaged data, thus enhancing economicalprovision of the likes of a night vision system. Optionally, amonochrome imager may be used (when an image is being displayed on avideo screen, most consumers want and desire a color image) for such anapplication.

Optionally, and with reference to FIG. 7, a navigation mirror system210″ may include a fully integrated Personal Navigation Device (PND)214″, such as available from TomTom, Garmin and/or Navman, can be storedor disposed or docked at the interior mirror assembly 212″ or at a WEM,such as by a locking mechanism or docking cradle or port 240″ of themirror assembly 212″. The unit or device can be ejected (such as via atab or the like) when the vehicle is in park (or ignition off). Thestored/docked unit/device may include a small speaker located in itsback, and preferably includes a touch screen or touch proximity/contactcontrols, text-to-speech conversion and auto brightness of thestored/docked display, which are controlled such as by mirrorelectronics or windshield electronics module (WEM) electronics or otherelectronics or circuitry of the vehicle that control via the mirror/WEMdocking element.

Optionally, for example (and as shown in FIG. 7), the PND may bestatically housed in a pocket or receiving portion on the driver's side(or on the passenger's side) of the interior mirror, or may bestatically housed in a pocket or receiving portion at the mirrormounting portion of the interior mirror assembly (typically at thewindshield of the vehicle), or at a fixed mirror housing or casing, suchas a fixed mirror casing of the type described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/842,328, filed Aug. 21, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.7,722,199, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. Electrical and/or mechanical connectivity to the mirror/WEMand vehicle is preferably via a quick connect element(s)/member(s), suchas at either the back or side of the PND. Preferably, locking tabs holdthe PND in place at the mirror. These locking tabs preferably are robustenough to pass crash testing and repeated customer use. The pocket orreceptacle within or at the mirror assembly (or WEM) thathouses/receives/docks the PND may have perforations or small holes (suchas at the back) to allow sound from loudspeakers to travel from the PNDtoward or to the windshield for amplification.

Optionally, for example, the PND may be attached to or may be attachableto an extendable/retractable arm or slider or the like, such as vialocking tabs, so that the PND can extend or retract such as from thepassenger's side of the interior mirror assembly. Electrical and/ormechanical connectivity to the mirror assembly/WEM and vehicle can alsobe made through a quick connect at the side or on the extendable arm.Again, the locking tabs should be robust enough to pass crash testing.Mechanically, such a slideout version may be more complicated than theembodiment described above, and such a slideout version may not be asuser friendly, since drivers will have to look further to their right tosee the display.

Note that in either application, the screen of the PND is preferably atouch-screen. Optionally, another embodiment may have an FM modulatorintegrated, such as with an adjustable locking tab, into or at therearview mirror assembly or WEM. Optionally, another embodiment may havea BLUETOOTH® HFCK module integrated into or at the rearview mirrorassembly or WEM. Such a module may include voice recognition, a hardwired audio line, FM modulation and/or an integrated speaker. By addinga low cost GPS module to a HFCK module, a low-cost telematics unit canbe formed. For example, the interior mirror located-unit can use thedriver's personal cell phone to call a remote service call center.Optionally, the PND may be configured to receive WIFI transmission so asto be able to receive advertisements and other information pertinent tothe location of the vehicle and PND. For example, the PND may receiverestaurant information and the mirror assembly may display informationabout restaurants near where the vehicle is located or along theselected route that the vehicle is traveling, so as to assist the driveras he or she travels the selected route.

Optionally, the mirror assembly or docking station or port may include asatellite radio head or circuitry, and may have a satellite radioantenna (such as an XM or SIRIUS antenna and circuitry). Such a mirrorassembly and system may display the radio stations and the track that isplaying (via the satellite radio transmission) at the display of themirror assembly, and may provide for control of the satellite radiocircuitry via a user input at the mirror assembly (such as at the touchscreen or elsewhere at the mirror assembly) or WEM or the like.Optionally, the portable hand-held navigation device may have such asatellite head incorporated therein, whereby the satellite radio stationfeed may be communicated through the vehicle audio system or speakers atthe mirror assembly or WEM or the like.

Thus, a navigation mirror system may provide a display and controlfunction for navigation, and may provide an enhanced location for thedriver of the vehicle to navigate and view routes while maintaining hisor her forward field of view. Optionally, and desirably, the navigationdevice of the mirror assembly may be detachable from the mirror so thatit can be used outside of the vehicle, and may be attachable to thevehicle for use while driving the vehicle. Optionally, and desirably,the portable navigation device may be substantially or entirelyself-contained with the user interfaces and features, such as a touchscreen display, speaker and microphone, so that it can be removed fromthe mirror assembly and taken out of the vehicle for external use.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may be connected to an external GPSantenna 250″, so that the portable navigation device may have better GPSreception when attached/docked to the mirror, thereby providing enhancedsystem performance when the driver is driving the vehicle. Such anexternal GPS antenna may also further enhance system performance byproviding satellite radio reception, such as reception of trafficchannels, weather channels and the like, whereby the traffic and/orweather for locations along the selected or navigated route may beprovided to the driver of the vehicle (such as at the display at themirror assembly or WEM).

Optionally, the mirror system may provide a docking station or dockingcradle or support or receiving cradle for receiving and/or supporting aportable or personal navigation device or other portable digital deviceor unit (such as a personal audio playback device, such as an iPOD® orMP3 player or the like), whereby the docking station may be at or nearthe mirror assembly and not attached to the windshield of the vehicle.In some states, such as California and Minnesota, it is illegal to mountor attach or adhere such portable devices to the vehicle windshield,such as via suction mounts (such as set forth in California Vehicle CodeSection 26708(a) and Minnesota Statutes 2005, Section 169.71, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties). Thus, suchportable or hand-held electronic devices or units (such as consumersmight buy in the likes of a Best Buy or a Circuit City consumerelectronics store, or may buy on-line via the INTERNET) may not beattached or adhered to the windshield of the vehicle, such as via asuction mount cradle or the like, or otherwise mounted in a manner thatmay otherwise impede the driver's forward field of view.

In order to provide a mounting arrangement for such portable orhand-held electronic devices that does not attach or adhere the deviceto the windshield yet supports the device at a location that is readilyviewable by the driver of the vehicle and without significantly impedingthe driver's forward field of view, the present invention provides adocking station or mounting support or cradle that is a part of theinterior rearview mirror assembly (such as by utilizing aspects of themirror assemblies described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety), and by so doing, aportable electronic device may be supported by the interior rearviewmirror assembly and may be at a location that is readily viewable by thedriver of the vehicle without impeding the driver's forward field ofview, and without having to attach the portable device to the interiorsurface of the windshield, whereby such a mounting arrangement may beallowable under various state laws. The support may be movable orpivotable between a stowed position (where the support may be generallyat the mirror support or mounting base of the mirror assembly and thusat least partially out of the view of the driver of the vehicle and atleast partially behind the mirror housing of the interior mirrorassembly) and a use position (where the support may be lowered or movedto a location generally below the mirror assembly for holding theportable device for viewing by the driver of the vehicle), such as via amechanical pivot or articulating or swivel configuration or the like.

For example, and with reference to FIG. 8, a mirror system 310 of avehicle includes an interior rearview mirror assembly 312 and a dockingstation or receiving cradle 314, which is disposed at a support assembly360 or the like of the mirror assembly. In the illustrated embodiment,docking station or receiving cradle 314 is pivotally or adjustablyattached at an end of support assembly 360, which is adjustable to movethe docking station between a use position (as shown in FIG. 8), wherethe docking station 314 and the portable device 315 (that can be thesame as the consumer bought at the likes of a shopping mall or on-line)docked thereat are at a location generally below the mirror casing andthus readily viewable by the driver of the vehicle, and a stowedposition (not shown), where the support assembly is pivoted or swiveledor folded or articulated or moved upward so as to be generally at themirror casing or mirror support and not readily viewed by the driver ofthe vehicle, such as for when the portable device 315 is not docked atthe docking station 314.

Optionally, the support assembly and docking station may mount at themirror mounting base or mirror support base 332 b or the mirror mountingbutton or element 362 (typically adhered or bonded to the interiorsurface of the windshield) so as to be part of the interior rearviewmirror assembly. In the illustrated embodiment, support assembly 360includes a base portion 364 attachable at the mirror mounting button362, where the base portion 364 includes a second mirror mounting buttonor element 364 a and a base support arm or portion 364 b. The mirrorassembly 312 may be mounted at the second mirror mounting button 364 aso that the mirror assembly and support assembly are mounted at thevehicle windshield via a button-on-button mounting arrangement, such asdescribed above and such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268 and6,824,281 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/958,087, filed Oct. 4,2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,963, which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties.

As shown in FIG. 8, mirror assembly 310 includes a mirror mountingassembly or support structure 332, which adjustably supports the mirrorcasing 330 and reflective element 328. Support structure 332 comprises adouble ball mounting or support structure and includes a support arm 332a that is pivotally or adjustably attached to the mirror head or casing330 (such as at a pivot or swivel joint 333 a) and to a mirror supportbase 332 b (such as at a pivot or swivel joint 333 b). The mirror heador casing thus may be pivoted or swiveled relative to the windshield toadjust the rearward field of view of the driver via the mirrorreflective element 328, such as is known in the automotive mirror art.The mirror support base 332 b is mounted to a rearward surface of baseportion 364, such as at a conventional or known channel mount ormounting button 364 a, while a forward surface of base portion 364 ismounted to the interior surface of the vehicle windshield at anotherchannel mount or mounting button 362 (typically adhered or bonded to theinterior surface of the windshield of the vehicle, such as in a mannerknown in the vehicle mirror art).

In the illustrated embodiment, support assembly 360 includes a secondsupport arm 366 that is pivotally or adjustably mounted at an end ofsupport arm 364 b and is pivotable or adjustable about a pivot joint 366a to adjust the orientation of the support arm 366 relative to the baseportion 364. Although shown as a fixed support arm, it is envisionedthat support arm 364 b may be pivotable or adjustable relative to themounting button to provide an additional pivot or swivel joint for thesupport assembly, if desired. Also, the support assembly may includemore pivot joints, or one or more swivel joints or the like, such asball and socket joints or other pivot/swivel type joints, whileremaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thereceiving cradle 314 is preferably pivotally or adjustably attached atan end of support arm 366 (such as at a pivot or swivel joint 366 b) sothat the receiving cradle 314 is adjustably mounted at the windshieldand is adjustable to provide the driver a desired viewing angle of thenavigation device docked at the docking station.

Optionally, and desirably, the receiving cradle 314 is configured toremovably receive the portable device or unit 315, such as via a snapconnection or the like. For example, the portable device may be snappedinto the receiving cradle, and electronic connections (such as forcharging or for communications between the portable device and mirrorcircuitry or vehicle circuitry or a display) between the portable deviceand receiving cradle may be made as the portable device is snapped intothe cradle. Thus, when the portable device is docked at the receivingcradle 314, power is provided to the portable device and to the dockingstation, and a communication linkage between the portable device and themirror circuitry and/or vehicle is also preferably provided. Note thatthe receiving cradle 314 may be a purely mechanical support for theself-contained, hand-held portable electronic device (such as a portableGPS navigation system that comes with its own integrated video screenuser actuations buttons/controls/touch screen, its own microphone andloudspeaker for hands free usage, its own BLUETOOTH® orequivalent/similar wireless communication port, its own battery powersupply, and the like).

Optionally, an FM modulator may be provided at the docking station orreceiving cradle so that the portable device is connected to the FMmodulator when the portable device is docked at the receiving cradle,whereby an audio output of the portable device or unit may betransmitted to the audio system of the vehicle (or to the mirror)wirelessly. Optionally, such an FM modulator may be attached to theportable device or unit, and may provide for wireless communication fromthe portable device to the vehicle system or mirror system even when theportable device is not docked at the receiving cradle.

Optionally, and with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, a mirror system 410may include a support assembly 460 for supporting a portable orhand-held device or unit (such as a portable navigation device, such asa Garmin StreetPilot c580 or a Garmin c540 unit or the like, or such asa portable digital playback device or unit, such as an iPOD® or MP3player or the like) at the mirror assembly 412. In the illustratedembodiment, the support assembly 460 (which may utilize aspects of themirror assemblies and systems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) ispart of the mirror mounting base or support base and includes a dockingstation or receiving cradle 414 that is pivotable between a stowedposition (FIG. 9), where the receiving cradle is articulated or pivotedor swiveled upward and generally along the windshield at the mountingbase of the mirror assembly, and a use position (FIG. 10), where thereceiving cradle (and portable unit docked thereat) is pivoted orarticulated or swiveled downward so as to be readily viewable by thedriver of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 10, the receiving cradle may bepivoted or swiveled or canted toward the driver side of the vehicle toenhance viewing of the docked/supported unit by the driver of thevehicle.

Thus, the mirror system of the present invention provides a dockingstation or cradle or support for receiving or docking or supporting aportable hand-held device or unit at a location where it is readilyviewable by a driver of the vehicle during use, and that may be moved toa stowed position generally out of the direct view of the driver of thevehicle when not in use. The receiving cradle and support assembly arepart of the mirror assembly, and may be attached at the mirror mountingbutton or the mirror mounting or support base (or optionally to themirror support arm or mirror casing if desired), so as to be part of themirror assembly and not adhered to the vehicle windshield.

The receiving cradle may receive or dock a portable navigation unit,such as the types commercially available from Garmin International Inc.(such as shown in FIG. 10). Such portable navigation units typicallyprovide information for the user to read and discern while walking andcarrying the hand-held unit. However, such information often takes timefor the user to read and discern as such devices are primarily designedto be used by a consumer carrying the unit in his or her hand whilewalking or the like, and thus may not be optimally suitable for viewingwhile driving a vehicle, where the driver may have difficulty indwelling on the screen a sufficient amount of time to discern all of theinformation being provided by the navigation unit. Optionally, thehand-held unit or docking station or receiving cradle or mirror systemof the present invention may provide an information display screen thatis adapted for the habitat or environment at which it is used. Forexample, the display may display detailed information when used outsideof the vehicle, such as when the user is walking and has time to reviewthe information being displayed, and may display a reduced set ofinformation when the unit is docked in the vehicle. For example, theportable unit may display multiple streets (such as the streets andother map data within a particular distance of the portable unit or aparticular distance along the selected navigation route) and streetnames and navigation instructions when used outside of the vehicle, andmay be adapted to display a reduced amount of information, such as theimmediate driving instruction or street name for the next turn or a“zoomed in” map portion (such as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11A) of the areaat which the vehicle is located (and optionally with an arrow indicatingthe direction in which the vehicle is to be driven) or the like, whenused in the vehicle or when docked at the receiving cradle.

Preferably, only a sparse sub-set of the likes of the map data shown inFIGS. 10 and 11A is shown to the driver when the unit is operated withinthe confines of the vehicle. For example, the detail shown in FIG. 11Amay be the display shown when outside the vehicle (such as via aConsumer Hand-held Display Format, which shows additional details forviewing by a consumer when the consumer is not driving a vehicle, suchas street names and addresses and/or other map ordirectional/instructional data), but when the device or unit is usedwithin the vehicle by the driver, only the arrow may be displayed in a“turn-by-turn” format, but now larger to fill the screen so that thedriver can tell at a glance whether to keep driving ahead, or to turnleft, or to turn right, or to take a left fork or take a right fork, orthe like (and thus, the display is re-formatted to an In-Vehicle DisplayFormat and shows a reduced degree of information (such as large arrowsindicating a turn is approaching or the like) so that the driver mayreadily discern and understand the displayed information via a quickglance at the display while the driver is driving the vehicle).Optionally, only the next instruction (such as “Left on Woolwich ChurchStreet ahead”) may be displayed when the device is used in the vehicle,such as in large font so as to alert the driver that the next crossstreet is ahead, and to turn left (or other driving instruction). Thus,the Consumer Hand-held Display Format may change to an In-vehicleDisplay Format where there is less information/detail displayed by thedevice and where the images/information displayed are larger and lesscluttered. The display format may be selectable by the user, such as viaa user input or the like, or may automatically set to the ConsumerHand-held Display Format when the portable device is not incommunication with the vehicle-based system (such as when the portabledevice is external the vehicle and being carried by the user) and mayautomatically set to the In-vehicle Display Format when the portabledevice is in communication with the vehicle-based system or when theportable device is located in the vehicle or the like.

Thus, the information that is critical or highly relevant to the driverof the vehicle is displayed as an enlarged display that may encompassall or a substantial portion of the display screen so that it is readilyviewable and discernible by the driver of the vehicle. Since the displayscreens of such portable hand-held navigation devices are typicallysized in the range of about two inches diagonal to about four and onehalf inches diagonal, the display screen is relatively small, such thatdetailed information may be displayed in a manner that is too small orbusy for a driver to quickly view and discern while driving the vehicle.By adapting the display to be a more focused, lower-detail but largerfont/character/icon size display that displays only the critical orhighly relevant information to the driver (but larger than when the unitis typically used outside the vehicle), the present invention maydisplay such critical or highly relevant information as large aspossible (and with little to no auxiliary or background map orpoint-of-interest data/information shown) so that it is quickly viewableand discernible by the driver of the vehicle when the driver quicklyglances over at the display while he or she is driving the vehicle (andthus the driver may quickly redirect his or her attention back to roadto enhance the driving of the vehicle).

Optionally, the display may be dynamically adapted or dynamicallyscalable, whereby the display scale (such as the degree of zoom of themap portion being displayed) may vary depending on how far away thevehicle is from a waypoint or a destination of the selected route. Forexample, the closer the GPS detects that the vehicle is to the nextwaypoint, the larger the display information (such as a map or depictionof the road or intersection that the vehicle is approaching) gets, sothat the information being displayed is dynamically scalable and/or mapdata may automatically change to a simpler turn-by-turn arrow or thelike that gets bigger as the turn to be taken is approached (and thatflashes or otherwise highlights if the driver misses the turn). Thus, asthe vehicle approaches a waypoint or destination or point-of-interestalong the selected route, the driver may more readily view and discernthe next driving instruction, since the display information pertainingto the next driving instruction will be enlarged as the vehicleapproaches the next waypoint.

Optionally, and desirable, the hand-held unit or docking station orreceiving cradle or mirror system of the present invention may bedynamically adapted to switch between the detailed information displayand the reduced information display. For example, the receiving cradlemay cause the portable navigation unit to switch to the reducedinformation display when the portable navigation unit is docked at thereceiving cradle (such as via a mechanical means such as a switch or thelike, or via a non-mechanical means such as a proximity sensor such as aHall-effect sensor or the like), or the portable navigation unit mayreceive a signal from the mirror system (such as via a BLUETOOTH®receiver or the like of the portable navigation unit) when within aparticular range of the mirror assembly or docking station or vehiclewhereby the signal causes the portable unit to switch to the reducedinformation display for use while the vehicle is being driven. Othermeans for adapting or switching the display of the portable navigationdevice or unit between the detailed information display and the reducedinformation display may be implemented while remaining within the spiritand scope of the present invention. Optionally, the hand-held unit ordocking station or receiving cradle or mirror system of the presentinvention may include a manual or user input (such as a switch orbutton), so that a user of the device or unit may manually select thedisplay mode of the portable navigation device or unit.

Such portable navigation units, such as the nüvi 680 and the StreetPilotc580 commercially available from Garmin International Inc., providepersonal navigation devices that provide map data and navigationalinstructions, and that may incorporate real-time traffic reports, gasprices, weather conditions, and movie times (such as can be seen in FIG.11B) from Microsoft's MSN Direct network. The portable devices or unitsmay receive up-to-date traffic incident and flow information for majorcities across the United States. Once the vehicle driver programs adestination into the device, MSN Direct traffic data helps select aroute that avoids traffic accidents, road closures, and construction. Ifconditions change during the trip, the device may automatically alterthe route to minimize trip time. Optionally, and desirably, the devicemay provide an alert to the driver of the vehicle to alert the driverthat the route has been altered.

Optionally, such devices may also receive gas price data from gasstations, and/or may receive weather information or other informationthat the driver may find relevant as the driver navigates the selectedroute, so that the driver of the vehicle is informed of weather and gasprices and other information along the selected route. Optionally, anddesirably, the portable navigation device may include a video displayscreen, such as a super-bright 4.3-inch touch screen, with easy-to-useinterface, travel and entertainment capabilities, and may provide anaudio output (for spoken street names). Such portable navigation devicestypically include a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, BLUETOOTH® hands-freecalling capability, an FM transmitter (so that the device is capable ofplaying voice prompts and entertainment over a car stereo or the like).

Optionally, and with respect to any of the above described mirrorsystems, the radio (audio line in) and/or mirror may be hardwireddepending on the particular application, thereby eliminating thewireless communication links. Optionally, the vehicle may be equipped orintegrated with a bus (such as CAN, MOST or the like) and thecommunication lines between the components may be made over the vehiclebus, thereby eliminating hardwires and/or wireless modules. Optionally,digital photographs and/or videos may be displayed at the mirror displayutilizing the vehicle bus or a higher end wireless module, such as awireless module that provides ultra-wideband (UWB) wirelesscommunication that is capable of providing a high speed data transferlink between the components, such as described below.

Optionally, a FM modulator may be incorporated into the mirror assemblyto make it a substantially standalone system, such as for the hifidelity stereo audio output, without a hardwire interface to thevehicle's audio system. Such a configuration may ease the installationcomplexity at the vehicle. Typically, the radio would need an auxiliaryaudio input, or optionally the installer may tap directly into thespeaker wires, to provide an audio connection for audio output throughthe vehicle speakers. By providing a FM modulator at the mirrorassembly, the audio output of a personal navigation device or personalaudio device may be played through the vehicle's speaker system withoutadditional hardwire connections between the docking station and thevehicle's audio system. Such a configuration may be especially usefulfor a mirror that docks a personal audio device, such as an iPOD® or thelike, where a high fidelity audio output is highly desirable. Also, apersonal navigation device (PND) could communicate the navigationinformation directly and wirelessly to the mirror assembly and/or to thevehicle's audio system. Today, many cell phones are offering navigationservice as well. When such phones are capable of transmittingnavigational information, the mirror assembly of the present inventionmay function to display/control such information that is communicatedfrom the hand-held device (such as a PND, cell phone and/or the like).

Optionally, a reverse aid camera or image sensor may be integrated withan additional analog/digital (A/D) circuit and reverse input (where themirror circuitry or WEM circuitry may receive an input indicative of thevehicle being shifted into its reverse gear). The mirror display may beactivated (and/or extended/retracted) in response to the reverse input,so that the display may extend and activate when the vehicle is shiftedinto the reverse gear so as to display images of the scene captured bythe rearward facing camera. Optionally, the mirror display may also orotherwise display other vehicle characteristics or functions, such as acompass heading of the vehicle, an outside temperature (in response toan external temperature sensor of the vehicle), a tire pressure of atleast one of the vehicle tires, a passenger side airbag status, and/orthe like, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Optionally, an interior rearview mirror assembly 470 (FIG. 12) mayinclude a slot or receiving portion 472 for receiving a PC card orplug-in module 474 to provide the desired or selected or appropriateelectronic content or features to the mirror assembly. The plug-inmodule 474 is inserted or plugged into the receiving portion toelectrically connect the circuitry of the module to the circuitry of themirror assembly (such as circuitry of a printed circuit board or thelike within the mirror assembly). The card may provide a variety offeatures or functions or content, as discussed below. In the illustratedembodiment, the mirror assembly 470 includes a reflective element 476and a video display screen 478, such as a touch screen or the like. Thevideo display screen 478 may be associated with a navigational featureor function, and may display driving instructions or navigationinformation or map data or the like.

Optionally, the video display screen 478 may display navigationalinformation provided by the plug-in module 474 when the plug-in module474 is inserted into or plugged into the receiving portion 472 of themirror assembly 470 (such as a slot or socket or the like at a side orend of the mirror assembly). Optionally, for example, the plug-in module474 may provide road or street or map data for a particular geographicalregion or regions, whereby the driver of the vehicle may insert anappropriate module when driving in the respective geographical region towhich the module is associated (such that the mirror circuitry need notinclude extensive map data, since the appropriate map data may beprovided by selecting an appropriate plug-in module). Other plug-inmodules or cards may be provided for map data of other geographicalregions, or for other electronic content or features for the mirrorassembly, such as discussed below.

Optionally, the plug-in module or card may have GPS capability (such asby including a GPS antenna and/or sensors and/or circuitry and the likeon the module or card). Such a GPS card or module may be provided fromvarious hand-held GPS device suppliers, such as Garmin or the like, andmay be sold separately as an aftermarket unit. Such plug-in cards ormodules may be used for different vehicles (with similarly equippedmirror assemblies or accessory modules or the like), whereby a user mayreadily transfer the GPS function or navigation functions to anothervehicle. Such plug-in modules or cards may also provide an upgradeablefeature for the vehicles, whereby a user may purchase upgraded levels ofplug-in modules or cards if desired and depending on the particularapplication and features desired or selected by the user or driver ofthe vehicle.

The plug-in module 474 thus may be inserted into the receiving portionof the mirror assembly, and may be retained within or at least partiallywithin the mirror assembly when plugged into the receiving portion. Themirror assembly or card or module may include a releasing element, suchas a releasing button or element 480 that a user may depress or actuateto release the module or card from the mirror (optionally, the receivingportion may be spring-loaded or otherwise biased so as to partiallyeject the card or module when the releasing element is actuated by auser so that the user may readily grasp the card or module to remove thecard or module from the mirror assembly). Optionally, and desirably, theslot or opening for the card or module may have a flap or cover that maymove to close or substantially close the slot when the card or module isremoved therefrom, and may readily move to an open position (such as viapivoting) when a card or module is inserted into the slot or opening.

Referring now to FIGS. 13-13L, an interior rearview mirror assembly 510(or a windshield electronics module or accessory module) includes acircuit board 552, such as a printed circuit board or the like withcircuitry disposed on a circuit substrate or the like, and with a PCcard interface 554 at or in connection with the circuit board 552. ThePC card interface 554 provides for electrical connection (such as viamulti-pin or multi-terminal connection) to a PC card or plug-in module556 a-l (FIGS. 13A-L) to provide various optional circuitry oraccessories or features to the mirror assembly 510 via selection of adesired or appropriate PC card (or other type of circuitry card orelement or the like) and insertion of or connection of the card to theinterface, as discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, mirror assembly 510 includes anelectro-optic (such as electrochromic) reflective element assembly orcell 528 that is electrically connected to EC drive circuitry 528 a ofcircuit board 552, and with a video image display screen 524, which mayalso be connected to video drive circuitry 524 a of circuit board 552.Mirror assembly 510 may also include a forward facing photo sensor orambient light sensor 544 a and a rearward facing photo sensor or glaresensor 544 b and may include a microprocessor or control 558 forcontrolling one or more accessories or circuitry elements or the like ofthe mirror assembly. Mirror assembly 510 also includes a speaker 546 forgenerating an audio output, and includes an electrical connector 560 forconnecting to a power supply or vehicle ignition and ground and/or to acamera video input or the like (such as an input from a camera or imagesensor of the vehicle that has a forward or rearward or interior fieldof view) and/or to an audio line out (such as an output of an audiosignal to the vehicle sound system or the like, and such as an audiooutput that may optionally bypass the mirror speaker) and/or the like.

The base mirror functions (without the PC card or plug-in moduleinserted therein) thus may provide a variably reflective mirrorreflective element and a reverse aid video (or other video imagedisplay) and an embedded speaker, while the PC card or plug-in modulemay provide other features, as discussed below. As shown in FIG. 13A, aPC card or plug-in module 556 a includes a PC card connector 557 forelectrically connecting the card 556 a to the PC connector 554 of mirrorassembly 510. For example, the mirror casing (not shown) may have a slotformed therethrough that is generally aligned with the PC connector 554,whereby the PC card 556 a may be inserted into the slot and connected toor plugged into the connector to electrically connect the PC card to themirror circuitry and thus to selectively provide the features of theparticular PC card being inserted into or connected to the mirrorassembly. Other means for connecting the card to the connector may beimplemented (such as various forms of cards being removably insertedinto or snapped into or onto a mirror casing or mirror assembly wherebythe electrical connection is made as the card is mechanically snapped orattached or secured to the mirror assembly), without affecting the scopeof the present invention.

The PC card or plug-in module thus may be selected and implementeddepending on the features or accessories provided on the card and on thedesired features or content of the mirror assembly. For example, and asshown in FIG. 13A, PC card or plug-in module 556 a may providenavigation features and may include a navigation engine or controlcircuitry 557 a, GPS antenna 557 b and optionally a GPS antennaconnector 557 c to enhance the system performance. The navigation cardmay also include a USB receptacle 557 d to facilitate updating of thenavigation data or map data in the memory or data storage 557 e of thePC card 556 a. The PC card 556 a may also include touch screen controls557 f and menus and the like, so that the user inputs of the mirrorassembly are adapted or configured to control the display or touchscreen in the appropriate manner as dictated by the PC card insertedinto the mirror assembly and connected to mirror circuitry. Optionally,and with reference to FIG. 13B, an upgraded navigation PC card orplug-in module 556 b may include additional circuitry, such asBLUETOOTH® hardware 557 g (or other short range communication protocol)and a microphone jack 557 h or the like, and may provide for hands freecommunication and echo cancellation and the like, such as via a handsfree and echo cancellation engine 557 k.

Other features may be provided by different selected PC cards or plug-inmodules (such as PC cards or plug-in modules 556 c-l of FIGS. 13C-L orthe like), depending on the particular mirror content desired. Forexample, an image storage and viewer card or plug-in module 556 c (FIG.13C) may provide a storage capability for storing digital images orphotos (such as in a JPEG format or the like), whereby the images may bestored to the card (such as via the USB receptacle 557 d or the like)and then may be selectively displayed on the video display screen of themirror assembly. Optionally, for example, a modular hands free PC cardor plug-in module 556 d (FIG. 13D) may provide for hands freecommunication via BLUETOOTH® hardware 557 g and a microphone jack 557 h,such as in a similar manner as described above with respect to card 556b, but without the navigational features.

The PC card or plug-in module and mirror of the present invention mayprovide for selective use of the mirror for playing or outputting songsor tracks from a digital playback device or the like. For example, amodular digital music playback PC card or plug-in module 556 e (FIG.13E) may include a playback engine 557 i for playing back stored digitalsongs or tracks from a digital playback device, such as an iPOD® or thelike, which may communicate the songs or tracks to the PC card and themirror assembly via a BLUETOOTH® communication link or the like. Themusic or track may be output by the card or the mirror (such as via themirror speaker 546 or via streaming of the audio output to the vehicleradio speakers or other speakers via a streaming output 557 j).Optionally, an upgrade version of a music playback card or plug-inmodule 556 f (FIG. 13F) may include a microphone jack 557 h and handsfree and echo cancellation engine 557 k for hands free communication orthe like. Optionally, for example, a modular MP3 player PC card orplug-in module 556 g (FIG. 13G) may provide for playback of digitaltracks via processing circuitry 5571, whereby the card and mirror maycooperate to playback digital tracks stored on the card or on a remoteMP3 player or the like, and whereby the stored songs or tracks may bealtered or updated via a USB receptacle 557 d or the like.

Optionally, a PC card or plug-in module 556 h (FIG. 13H) may provide acell antenna 557 m or the like and may provide for internet connectionor broadband cell connection. Optionally, a PC card 556 i or plug-inmodule (FIG. 13I) may include a Wi-Fi antenna 557 n to provide for aninternet connection or broadband connection and to allow for control oroperation of the connection, such as for basic searches or one touchaccess to “favorite” sites or the like, such as Google maps or email orthe like, and may utilize a remote wireless connection or the like.Optionally, a PC card or plug-in module 556 j (FIG. 13J) may include amicrophone jack 557 h and BLUETOOTH® hardware 557 g and may provide awireless camera card for receiving images from a camera or the like.Optionally, a PC card 556 k (FIG. 13K) may include one or more videoinput jacks 557 o and may provide a video switching feature and may beconfigured to input and display two or more video sources (in additionto the video input of the mirror assembly). Optionally, a PC card orplug-in module 556 l (FIG. 13L) may provide a satellite radio featureand may include a satellite radio engine 557 p and satellite antennaconnector 557 q so as to provide a satellite radio feature for themirror assembly and vehicle. Other features may be provided on other PCcards or the like while remaining within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention, such that the mirror assembly provides a customizedor convertible or adaptable or reconfigurable mirror assembly dependingon the desired or appropriate mirror content and allows the consumer orend user of the mirror assembly to select the features that aredesirable to the consumer without having to select or receive otherfeatures that are not as desired.

Optionally, and with reference to FIGS. 14-14L, a mirror assembly 510′may be substantially similar to mirror assembly 510, discussed above,but may include an embedded microphone 548′ instead of the embeddedspeaker. The similar components and features of the mirror assembly 510′are shown in FIG. 14 with similar reference numbers as used in FIG. 13.Because the mirror assemblies may be similar to one another, a detaileddiscussion of the mirror assemblies need not be repeated herein.Likewise, the PC cards or plug-in modules 556 a′-5561′ for use withmirror assembly 510′ may be similar to PC cards or plug-in modules 556a-5561 discussed above, such that a detailed discussion of the PC cardsor plug-in modules also need not be repeated herein. Suffice it to saythat some of the PC cards or plug-in modules, such as PC cards orplug-in modules 556 b′, 556 d′, 556 f′ and 556 j′ would not need orlikely include a microphone jack, since the mirror assembly 510′includes the embedded microphone 548′.

Optionally, and with reference to FIGS. 15-15N, a mirror assembly 510″may include a video display screen 524″ and a back light power supply524 a″ and EC microprocessor and backlight PWM control 558 forcontrolling the back light power supply 524 a″ in response to an inputfrom the selected and connected PC card or plug-in module 556 a″-556 n″,discussed below. Optionally, mirror assembly 510″ may include amicrophone cover region 548 a″ (such as slots or grating formed at themirror casing or the like), such that a microphone may be provided on aPC card or plug-in module and disposed on the card at a location thatgenerally aligns with cover region 548 a″ when the card is connected tothe PC connector 554″ of mirror assembly 510″. The display at the videoscreen may include touch screen inputs that vary with the selected PCcard or plug-in module. When the mirror assembly 510″ does not have anyPC card inserted therein or connected thereto, the display may providetouch screen controls or inputs for the EC reflective element and/orsettings of the mirror assembly. When a PC card or plug-in module isinserted into the mirror assembly, the video display may be controlledto provide other touch screen controls depending on the particular cardthat is selected and inserted into or plugged into or connected to themirror assembly, as discussed above and below.

Mirror assembly 510″ may otherwise be substantially similar to mirrorassembly 510, discussed above, but may not include either the embeddedmicrophone or embedded speaker discussed above. The similar componentsand features of the mirror assembly 510″ are shown in FIG. 15 withsimilar reference numbers as used in FIG. 13. Because the mirrorassemblies may be similar to one another, a detailed discussion of themirror assemblies need not be repeated herein. Likewise, the PC cards orplug-in modules 556 a″-5561″ for use with mirror assembly 510″ may besimilar to PC cards or plug-in modules 556 a-5561 discussed above, suchthat a detailed discussion of the PC cards also need not be repeatedherein. Some of the PC cards or plug-in modules 556 a″-556 n″ arediscussed further below, and those that are not specifically discussedbelow may be similar to the respective PC card or plug-in module 556a-5561, discussed above.

Optionally, a navigation PC card or plug-in module 556 a″ (FIG. 15A) formirror assembly 510″ may be similar to PC card 556 a, discussed above,and may include an optional FM modulator 557 r″ so that the mirrorand/or PC card may provide an output to the vehicle radio withoutrequiring a hard wire connection. Optionally, an upgrade navigation PCcard or plug-in module 556 b″ (FIG. 15B) may be similar to PC card 556a, discussed above, and may include a BLUETOOTH® streaming output 557 j″and/or an FM modulator 557 r″. As shown in FIG. 15B, PC card 556 b″ mayinclude a microphone 548″, which may generally align with cover area 548a″ of mirror assembly 510″ when PC card is connected to or plugged intomirror assembly 510″. Similarly, a hands free PC card or plug-in module556 d″ (FIG. 15D) may be similar to PC card 556 d, discussed above, andmay include the microphone 548″ and optionally an FM modulator 557 r″.

Optionally, a digital playback device PC card or plug-in module 556 e″(FIG. 15E) may be similar to PC card 556 e, discussed above, and mayinclude an FM modulator 557 r″ instead of the streaming output, ifdesired. Optionally, an upgrade digital playback device PC card orplug-in module 556 f″ (FIG. 15F) may be similar to the PC card 556 e″,but may include a microphone 548″ and a hands free and echo cancellationengine 557 k″ or the like to provide for sound enhancement algorithms orprocessing, such as to compensate gains related to microphone/speakerposition. Optionally, an MP3 player PC card or plug-in module 556 g″(FIG. 15G) may be similar to PC card 556 g discussed above, and mayinclude an MP3 player engine 557 s″ and an FM modulator 557 r″.

Optionally, a camera card or plug-in module 556 j″ (FIG. 15J) may besimilar to PC card 556 j discussed above, and may include video driversor controls 557 t″, which may include an LCD driver and/or compositevideo decoder and/or an on screen display driver, such that the PC cardmay receive a video input (such as via a wireless input) and may controlthe backlight of the display device of the mirror assembly 510″, sincethe mirror assembly may not include such circuitry embedded therein.Optionally, a video switcher PC card or plug-in module 556 k″ (FIG. 15K)may be similar to video switcher card 556 k discussed above, and mayinclude the video drivers or controls 557 t″, such as a video decoderand/or LCD driver or the like, similar to camera card 556 j″.

Optionally, the module may receive a wireless communication of videodata for displaying on the video display device. For example, a wirelessmodule may be provided that provides ultra-wideband (UWB) wirelesscommunication that is capable of providing a high speed data transferlink between the components. Such an ultra-wideband communication linkprovides radio technology that can be used in vehicle for short-rangehigh-bandwidth communications by using a large portion of the radiospectrum in a way that doesn't interfere with other more traditional‘narrow band’ uses. Such a short-range wireless communicationstechnology may be used in vehicles to eliminate the wires betweendevices and provide a high-speed data transfer link to remote sources,such as to outside information and entertainment sources that areexternal to the vehicle. For example, a UWB wireless link may functionto wirelessly download a DVD-quality movie from a transmitter remotefrom the vehicle, such as, for example, a transmitter located at aservice or gas station for downloading the movie while the vehicle isbeing refueled. Once downloaded to the vehicle, the video data may bewirelessly streamed to one or more wireless video screens in the vehiclefor viewing by the occupants of the vehicle. While a short rangecommunication protocol such as BLUETOOTH® is suitable for wirelessconnections and communications between cell phones and the vehicle audiosystem, the low data transfer rate (about 700-kilobit/second datatransfer rate) is not as suitable for video data transfer. Thus, a UWBwireless link (having a data transfer rate on the order ofmegabits/second) is preferred for such applications.

Optionally, a reverse aid PC card or plug-in module 556 m″ (FIG. 15M)may include the video drivers or controls 557 t″ and may control thevideo display 524″ of mirror assembly 510″ when the vehicle is shiftedto reverse, whereby the video display is activated to display images ofa rearward vision system of the vehicle (such as in response to an inputfrom a rearward facing camera or image sensor of the vehicle). The videodrivers or controls 557 t″ may be operable to generate on-screendisplays, such as warnings or bumper grid lines or the like (such as byutilizing aspects of U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,935, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Optionally, an FMmodulator PC card or plug-in module 556 n″ (FIG. 15N) may include an FMantenna 557 u″, an FM engine 557 v″ and an FM memory 557 w″, such thatthe mirror assembly (when PC card 556 n″ is plugged into the mirrorassembly) may provide an audio output to an FM radio station for playingthe audio output through the vehicle audio system.

Therefore, the mirror assembly of the present invention provides areconfigurable or customizable mirror assembly, whereby the desiredfeature or features may be provided on separate PC cards or plug-inmodules or the like. The user or vehicle owner thus may select a desiredPC card or plug-in module and insert or plug the card into the slot (orother receiving element or port or receptacle or the like) at the mirrorassembly to provide the desired feature or content to the mirrorassembly. The user may remove the card or module from one mirrorassembly of one vehicle and take the card or module to another vehiclesimilarly equipped with a reconfigurable or customizable mirror assemblyand may then insert or plug the card into the other mirror assembly ofthe other vehicle, whereby the mirror assembly of the other vehiclewould then provide similar content as in the first vehicle (and theplayback content or memory content of the card thus is portable betweenthe two mirror assemblies and vehicles). The consumer or user may selector purchase more than one of the available PC cards or plug-in modulesto provide the desired features or content to the mirror assemblywithout having to purchase multiple features (such as in a package deal)that may not be desired by the particular individual consumer.Optionally, it is envisioned that the mirror assembly may have aconnection or port for more than one plug-in module or card, such thattwo (or more) cards or modules may be plugged into or connected to themirror assembly and circuitry thereof, whereby the cards or modules maycooperate to control or provide multiple features or may individuallyprovide selected or particular features or functions to the mirrorassembly.

Thus, in accordance with this aspect of the present invention, aninterior rearview mirror (or windshield electronics module or accessorymodule or the like) incorporating a video screen (that may be a slideout video screen or a transflective display on demand video screen, suchas the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar.9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; Ser. No. 11/226,628,filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 andpublished Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, and/or PCT Patent Application No.PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov. 23, 2006 asInternational Publication No. WO 2006/124682; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May 10, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/053710, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties) is provided.Optionally, and preferably, the video screen is connected to or operableby a backup or reversing system of the vehicle, preferably with agraphic overlay system or feature that applies a graphic overlay to thedisplayed images, such as by utilizing aspects of the rear visionsystems described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,935, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Additionally, a plug-in navigational module (that preferably isremovable so as to be usable in another mirror assembly of anothervehicle or in another accessory or device, such as a hand-held videodevice or the like) is provided for those vehicle owners that desire tohave navigational information (such as turn-by-turn instructions or thelike) in addition to the reverse aid or backup display via the mirrorprovided video screen. The plug-in navigational module or card thus maybe plugged into or connected to the mirror assembly (and the circuitrythereof) so as to provide navigational information at the mirrorprovided video screen. Furthermore, a hands free link to the likes of aniPOD® or an MP3 player or the like or a cell phone or the like may beprovided, preferably as a separate plug-in module, or more preferably asan added feature or features of the same navigational plug-in module, sothat the likes of song titles, address menus and/or the like may be madeavailable to the driver or occupant of the vehicle at the mirrorprovided video display, and with the user inputs for controlling themenus and display being provided at the mirror assembly, such as viatouch screen inputs at the video display.

Thus, a pick and play modular feature may be provided at the mirrorassembly so that the video screen of the mirror assembly may be used forone or more or all of the multiple features/tasks (such as, for example,navigational information or entertainment information or camera-basedinformation such as reversing information or the like), and with theowner of the vehicle or mirror assembly being able to opt for orpurchase or select individual plug-in (and removable) modules or cardsthat each individually contain the circuitry and components (such as aGPS antenna, navigational memory or data storage, and/or the like) asrequired for the particular tasks. The mirror assembly and plug-inmodules or cards thus allow the user or owner of the vehicle to selector customize the mirror content (so that the mirror assembly providesthe desired or selected features or content) via selection of one ormore plug-in modules or cards.

The mirror reflective element may comprise a prismatic mirror reflectoror an electrically variable reflectance mirror reflector, such as anelectro-optic reflective element assembly or cell, such as anelectrochromic reflective element assembly or cell. For example, therearview mirror assembly may comprise an electro-optic or electrochromicreflective element or cell, such as an electrochromic mirror assemblyand electrochromic reflective element utilizing principles disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 5,140,455; 5,151,816;6,178,034; 6,154,306; 6,002,544; 5,567,360; 5,525,264; 5,610,756;5,406,414; 5,253,109; 5,076,673; 5,073,012; 5,117,346; 5,724,187;5,668,663; 5,910,854; 5,142,407; 4,824,221; 5,818,636; 6,166,847;6,111,685; 6,392,783; 6,710,906; 6,798,556; 6,554,843; 6,420,036;5,142,406; 5,442,478; 4,712,879 and/or 4,712,879, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/054,633, filed Jan. 22, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No.7,195,381; Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,255,451; Ser. No. 10/528,269, filed Mar. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,274,501; Ser. No. 10/533,762, filed May 4, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No.7,184,190; Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar.9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; Ser. No. 11/226,628,filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008; Ser. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,338,177; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 andpublished Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, and/or International Pat. Publication Nos. WO2004/098953, published Nov. 18, 2004; WO 2004/042457, published May 21,2004; WO 2003/084780, published Oct. 16, 2003; and/or WO 2004/026633,published Apr. 1, 2004, which are all hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or such as disclosed in the followingpublications: N. R. Lynam, “Electrochromic Automotive Day/NightMirrors”, SAE Technical Paper Series 870636 (1987); N. R. Lynam, “SmartWindows for Automobiles”, SAE Technical Paper Series 900419 (1990); N.R. Lynam and A. Agrawal, “Automotive Applications of ChromogenicMaterials”, Large Area Chromogenics: Materials and Devices forTransmittance Control, C. M. Lampert and C. G. Granquist, EDS., OpticalEngineering Press, Wash. (1990), which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Optionally, and preferably, the mirror reflective element may comprise aframeless reflective element, such as by utilizing aspects of thereflective elements described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/018567,filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov. 23, 2006 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2006/124682; PCT Application No. PCT/US2004/015424,filed May 18, 2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2004/103772; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/140,396, filed May 27, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,932; Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008; Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23,2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451; Ser. No. 10/528,269, filed Mar. 17,2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,274,501; Ser. No. 10/533,762, filed May 4,2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,190; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filedJun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. Optionally, the reflective element may include ametallic perimeter band around the perimeter of the reflective element,such as by utilizing aspects of the reflective elements described in PCTApplication No. PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov.23, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/124682; PCTApplication No. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003 and published Apr.1, 2004 as International Publication No. WO 2004/026633; and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US03/35381, filed Nov. 5, 2003 and published May 21,2004 as International Publication No. WO 2004/042457; and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,255,451; and/or Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and publishedMar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The framelessreflective element thus is aesthetically pleasing to a person viewingthe mirror assembly, since the reflective element (as recessed orpartially recessed in the opening of the bezel portion of the mirrorcasing) does not include a separate frame or bezel portion around itsperimeter edge. The metallic perimeter band may be selected to have adesired color or tint to match or contrast a color scheme or the like ofthe vehicle, such as described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/018567,filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov. 23, 2006 as InternationalPublication No. WO 2006/124682; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, use of an elemental semiconductor mirror, such as a siliconmetal mirror, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,286,965; 6,196,688;5,535,056; 5,751,489 and 6,065,840, and/or in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,338,177,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, can be advantageous because such elemental semiconductormirrors (such as can be formed by depositing a thin film of silicon) canbe greater than 50 percent reflecting in the photopic (SAE J964ameasured), while being also substantially transmitting of light (up to20 percent or even more). Such silicon mirrors also have the advantageof being able to be deposited onto a flat glass substrate and to be bentinto a curved (such as a convex or aspheric) curvature, which is alsoadvantageous since many passenger-side exterior rearview mirrors arebent or curved.

Optionally, the electrochromic circuitry and/or a glare sensor (such asa rearward facing glare sensor that receives light from rearward of themirror assembly and vehicle through a port or opening along the casingand/or bezel portion and/or reflective element of the mirror assembly)and circuitry and/or an ambient light sensor and circuitry may beprovided on one or more circuit boards of the mirror assembly.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may comprise a prismatic mirrorassembly, such as a prismatic mirror assembly utilizing aspectsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,318,870; 6,598,980; 5,327,288; 4,948,242;4,826,289; 4,436,371 and 4,435,042; and PCT Application No.PCT/US04/015424, filed May 18, 2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772; and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/933,842, filed Sep. 3, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,249,860, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Optionally, the prismatic reflective element may comprise aconventional prismatic reflective element or prism, or may comprise aprismatic reflective element of the types described in PCT ApplicationNo. PCT/US03/29776, filed Sep. 19, 2003 and published Apr. 1, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/026633; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/709,434, filed May 5, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,756;Ser. No. 10/933,842, filed Sep. 3, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,860;Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451;Ser. No. 10/528,269, filed Mar. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,274,501;and/or Ser. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,338,177, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18,2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004, as International Publication No. WO2004/103772, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, without affecting the scope of the present invention.

Such prismatic mirror reflective elements may be formed from variousmaterials such as plastic or glass, and typically have a planar frontsurface extending at an angle to a planar rear surface. The rear surfaceis coated with a reflective layer of metal (such as chromium, aluminumor alloys thereof or other suitable materials) as is conventionallyknown in the industry. The reflective element is pivotable relative to amounting assembly of the mirror to pivot the reflective surface in orderto reduce glare during nighttime conditions. When the reflective elementis pivoted from a full reflectivity day position to a reducedreflectivity night position, the reflective surface is rotated such thatuncoated front surface is aligned for viewing by the vehicle driverinstead of reflective surface. Preferably, the reflective surfacereflects at least about 60 percent to about 95 percent of the lightincident thereon, while the uncoated front surface reflects a reducedamount of light, such as about 4 percent of the light incident thereon,thereby significantly reducing glare from headlights or other brightlights to the rear of the vehicle to the driver's eyes.

Optionally, the reflective element may comprise a bent, wide-anglemirror reflector rather than a flat mirror reflector. If a bent,wide-angle mirror reflector is used, it is preferable that the mirrorreflector comprise a glass substrate coated with a bendable reflectorcoating (such as of silicon as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,065,840;5,959,792; 5,535,056 and 5,751,489, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror casing and/or windshield electronics module maybe suitable for supporting larger or heavier components or circuitrythat otherwise may not have been suitable for mounting or locating at orin a mirror casing. For example, the mirror casing or module may houseor support a battery or power pack for various electronic features orcomponents, and/or may support a docking station for docking and/orholding a cellular telephone or hand-held personal data device or thelike, such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,824,281, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19,2003 and published Jul. 15, 2004 as International Publication No. WO2004/058540, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/510,813, filedAug. 23, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,306,276, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/842,328, filed Aug. 21, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No.7,722,199, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, for example, the mounting structure and/or mirror casingand/or windshield electronics module may support compass sensors, suchas compass sensors of the types described in may utilize aspects of thecompass systems described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/305,637, filed Dec. 16, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,329,013; Ser. No.10/352,691, filed Jan. 28, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,922,902; Ser. No.11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat.Publication No. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983; Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 10/933,842, filed Sep.3, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,860; and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,004,593;4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851;5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508;6,222,460; 6,513,252 and 6,642,851, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, and/or European patentapplication, published Oct. 11, 2000 under Publication No. EP 0 1043566,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The compass circuitry may include the compass sensor, suchas a magneto-responsive sensor, such as a magneto-resistive sensor, suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,255,442; 5,632,092;5,802,727; 6,173,501; 6,427,349 and 6,513,252 (which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties), amagneto-capacitive sensor, a Hall-effect sensor, such as the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,278,271; 5,942,895 and 6,184,679 (whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties), amagneto-inductive sensor, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,370(which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), amagneto-impedance sensor, such as the types described in PCT PublicationNo. WO 2004/076971, published Sep. 10, 2004 (which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety), or a flux-gate sensoror the like, and/or may comprise a compass chip, such as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 andpublished Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/orSer. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 asU.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.By positioning the compass sensors at a fixed location, furtherprocessing and calibration of the sensors to accommodate adjustment ormovement of the sensors is not necessary.

Optionally, the mounting structure and/or mirror casing and/orwindshield electronics module may support one or more imaging sensors orcameras, and may fixedly support them with the cameras set with adesired or appropriate forward and/or rearward field of view. Forexample, the camera may be operable in conjunction with a forward facingimaging system, such as a rain sensing system, such as described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,968,736; 6,806,452; 6,516,664; 6,353,392; 6,313,454;6,250,148; 6,341,523 and 6,824,281, and in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/958,087, filed Oct. 4, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,963; and/orSer. No. 11/201,661, filed Aug. 11, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,480,149,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The mounting structure and/or mirror casing may be pressedor loaded against the interior surface of the windshield to position orlocate the image sensor in close proximity to the windshield and/or tooptically couple the image sensor at the windshield. The mountingstructure and/or mirror casing may include an aperture or apertures atits forward facing or mounting surface and the windshield may includeapertures through the opaque frit layer (typically disposed at a mirrormounting location of a windshield) or the windshield may not includesuch a frit layer, depending on the particular application.

Optionally, the image sensor may be operable in conjunction with aforward or rearward vision system, such as an automatic headlamp controlsystem and/or a lane departure warning system or object detection systemand/or other forward vision or imaging systems, such as imaging orvision systems of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,038,577;7,005,974; 7,004,606; 6,690,268; 6,946,978; 6,757,109; 6,717,610;6,396,397; 6,201,642; 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 5,550,677; 5,670,935;5,796,094; 5,715,093; 5,877,897; 6,097,023 and 6,498,620, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/441,341, filed Nov. 16, 1999, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,339,149; Ser. No. 10/422,512, filed Apr. 24, 2003, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,123,168; Ser. No. 11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,881,496; Ser. No. 11/672,070, filed Feb. 7, 2007, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,698,894; and/or Ser. No. 11/315,675, filed Dec. 22, 2005, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,720,580, and/or U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No.60/628,709, filed Nov. 17, 2004; Ser. No. 60/614,644, filed Sep. 30,2004; Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004; Ser. No. 60/731,183,filed Oct. 28, 2005; and/or Ser. No. 60/765,797, filed Feb. 7, 2006,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.The mirror casing thus may support one or more rearward facing imagingsensors or cameras, such as for rearward vision or imaging systems, suchas for a rear vision system or back up aid of the types described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,717,610 and/or 6,201,642 (which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties), and/or a cabin monitoringsystem or baby view system of the types described in U.S. Pat. No.6,690,268 (which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety), and/or the like.

Optionally, the fixed mounting structure and/or mirror casing and/orwindshield electronics module may house or support a display device,such as a heads up display device (such as the types described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/105,757, filed Apr. 14, 2005, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,526,103; and Ser. No. 11/029,695, filed Jan. 5, 2005, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,253,723, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties) that is operable to project a display atthe area in front of the driver to enhance viewing of the displayinformation without adversely affecting the driver's forward field ofview. For example, the mirror casing may support a heads up display(HUD), such as a MicroHUD™ head-up display system available fromMicroVision Inc. of Bothell, Wash., and/or such as a HUD that utilizesaspects described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/105,757, filedApr. 14, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,526,103; and Ser. No. 11/029,695,filed Jan. 5, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,253,723, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. For example,MicroVision's MicroHUD™ combines a MEMS-based micro display with anoptical package of lenses and mirrors to achieve a compacthigh-performance HUD module that reflects a virtual image off thewindscreen that appears to the driver to be close to the front of thecar. This laser-scanning display can outperform many miniature flatpanel LCD display screens because it can be clearly viewed in thebrightest conditions and also dimmed to the very low brightness levelsrequired for safe night-time driving. For example, such a display devicemay be located at or in the mirror casing/mounting structure/windshieldelectronics module and may be non-movably mounted at the mirror casingor mounting structure or windshield electronics module, and may beoperable to project the display information at the windshield of thevehicle so as to be readily viewed by the driver of the vehicle in thedriver's forward field of view.

Optionally, for example, and with reference to FIG. 16, a HUD displaydevice 610 may be incorporated into or at an interior rearview mirrorassembly 612, such as at or in a mirror casing or housing or at or in awindshield electronics module or accessory module or the like. As shownin FIG. 16, the HUD device 610 is operable to project illumination orimage information via a light source at the mirror assembly orwindshield interior mirror or module onto the instrument panel 614 thatwould create a HUD display effect on the windshield 616 for viewing bythe driver of the vehicle. The instrument panel may receive and redirector project the illumination from the HUD device 610 generally upwardtoward the windshield and at a region generally at or in the driver'sforward field of view, or optionally the instrument panel may have areflective or partially reflective surface for reflecting or redirectingthe illumination from the HUD device 610 generally upward toward thewindshield and at a region generally at or in the driver's forward fieldof view.

The mounting structure and/or mirror casing and/or windshieldelectronics module may be fixedly attached to or supported at thevehicle windshield and may extend upward toward the headliner of thevehicle. Thus, the mirror assembly of the present invention may haveenhanced wire management and may substantially conceal the wiring of theelectronic components/accessories between the circuitry within themirror casing and the headliner at the upper portion of the vehiclewindshield. Optionally, the mirror assembly may include wire managementelements, such as the types described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 11/584,697, filed Oct.20, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,287; and/or U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. Ser. No. 60/729,430, filed Oct. 21, 2005, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, to concealthe wires extending between an upper portion of the mirror casing andthe vehicle headliner (or overhead console). Optionally, the mirrorcasing and/or mounting structure and/or windshield electronics modulemay abut the headliner and/or may be an extension of an overhead consoleof the vehicle (such as by utilizing aspects described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar.9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/510,813, filed Aug. 23, 2002, now U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. US-2005-0151396, published Jul. 14, 2005,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties).The mirror assembly of the present invention thus may allow forutilization of the area above the mirror reflective element foradditional mirror content, such as additional electronic accessories orcircuitry, and thus may provide for or accommodate additional mirrorcontent/circuitry and/or vehicle content/circuitry.

Optionally, the mirror assembly and/or reflective element assembly mayinclude one or more displays, such as for the accessories or circuitrydescribed herein. The displays may comprise any suitable display, suchas displays of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240 and/or6,329,925, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, or may be display-on-demand or transflective type displaysor other displays, such as the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,690,268; 5,668,663 and/or 5,724,187, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/054,633, filed Jan. 22, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,381;Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451;Ser. No. 10/528,269, filed Mar. 17, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,274,501;Ser. No. 10/533,762, filed May 4, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,184,190;Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 b and published Mar. 9, 2006 asU.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep.14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008; Ser. No. 10/993,302, filed Nov. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,338,177; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 andpublished Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, and/or PCT Patent Application No.PCT/US2006/018567, filed May 15, 2006 and published Nov. 23, 2006 asInternational Publication No. WO 2006/124682; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May 10, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/053710; and/or U.S. provisionalapplications, Ser. No. 60/836,219, filed Aug. 8, 2006; Ser. No.60/759,992, filed Jan. 18, 2006; and Ser. No. 60/732,245, filed Nov. 1,2005, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003 andpublished Jul. 15, 2004 as International Publication No. WO 2004/058540,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, or may include or incorporate video displays or the like,such as the types described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003 and published Jul.15, 2004 as International Publication No. WO 2004/058540, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar.9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/or Ser. No.11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat.Publication No. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, which arehereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Optionally,the mirror assembly may include a video display that is selectivelypositionable, such as extendable/retractable or pivotable or foldable soas to be selectively positioned at a side or below the mirror casingwhen in use and storable within or at least partially within the mirrorcasing when not in use. The display may automatically extend/pivot tothe in-use position in response to an actuating event, such as when thevehicle is shifted into its reverse gear for a rear vision system orback up aid.

Such a video mirror display (or other display) may be associated with arearward facing camera at a rear of the vehicle and having a rearwardfield of view, such as at the license plate holder of the vehicle or ata rear trim portion (such as described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/672,070, filed Feb. 7, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,698,894 andprovisional application Ser. No. 60/765,797, filed Feb. 7, 2006, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties). Theimage data captured by the rearward facing camera may be communicated tothe control or video display at the rearview mirror assembly (orelsewhere in the vehicle, such as at an overhead console or accessorymodule or the like) via any suitable communication means or protocol.For example, the image data may be communicated via a fiber optic cableor a twisted pair of wires, or may be communicated wirelessly, such asvia a BLUETOOTH® communication link or protocol or the like, or may besuperimposed on a power line, such as a 12 volt power line of thevehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the systems described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/239,980, filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,881,496, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

Optionally, and desirably, such rear vision systems are operable todisplay the images of the rearward scene in response to the driver ofthe vehicle placing the gear selector in the reverse gear position so asto provide an episodic display that is only activated when the drivermay be interested in the displayed rearward images. The rearward facingcamera (such as at a rear portion of the vehicle) and the display device(such as at the interior rearview mirror assembly) thus may each beconnected to a respective input wire that provides a signal indicativeof the vehicle gear selector being shifted to the reverse gear position.Such a configuration may have a wire or lead to the rearview mirror ordisplay device to provide a signal indicative of the vehicle gearselector being shifted to the reverse gear position.

Optionally, the rear vision system or reverse or back up aid may includea camera that has a rearward field of view (such as a camera mounted ata rear portion of the vehicle) and that is in wireless communicationwith the display system or display device (such as a video displayscreen or module at the interior rearview mirror assembly of thevehicle). The rearward camera or image capture device may be powered bythe power line or feed to the reverse lights of the vehicle, such thatthe camera is automatically and episodically powered or activated ortriggered when the vehicle gear selector is shifted to the reverseposition. The image data thus may be communicated to the display systemor module or device wirelessly so as to reduce the wiring requirementsof the vehicle.

Optionally, the display device may be activated to display the capturedimages in response to the image data signal being received from therearward facing camera. For example, a receiver at or of or associatedwith the display device may receive the image data signal from therearward facing camera (which is automatically generated upon shiftingof the gear selector to the reverse gear position), and the displayscreen may be automatically and episodically activated to display thecaptured and received images in response to the receiver receiving theimage data signal. The receipt of such a signal by the receiver ordisplay device may activate the video display screen for displaying thecaptured images (such as by displaying images behind a transflectivereflective element such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268; and/orPCT Application No. PCT/US2006/042718, filed October 31, and publishedMay 10, 2007 as International Publication No. WO 2007/053710; and/orU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/orSer. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 asU.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties),or may trigger an extension of the video display screen from the mirrorcasing (such as for applications with a video slide-out mirror such asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268; and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 asU.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/or Ser. No. 11/284,543, filedNov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. Publication No.US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/042718, filed Oct. 31, 2006 and published May 10, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/053710, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties). Such anarrangement may eliminate the need for a reverse wire or feed to thedisplay device at the rearview mirror or accessory module.

The camera thus may be automatically and episodically powered andoperated to detect and transmit or communicate image data in response tothe vehicle gear selector being shifted to or placed in the reverse gearposition, whereby the display device may be automatically andepisodically activated to show the reverse aid video images when thecamera is powered. Optionally, the display device or screen may beautomatically activated in response to image data signals from othercameras or image capture devices of the vehicle, whereby the displayscreen may be automatically and episodically activated to display imagesof other areas at or near or in the vehicle when other triggering oractivating events actuate the other cameras or image capture devices.For example, the wireless communication and triggering or activating ofthe display screen may be implemented in conjunction with other wirelessdevices, such as for other interior or exterior cameras of the vehicle,such as for a camera or cameras at the exterior mirror or mirrors forautomatic blind spot alert or warning or object detection, whereby thecamera or cameras may send a triggering signal in response to adetection of an object at a blind spot of the vehicle (and optionally inresponse to activation of a turn signal indicator by the driver or inresponse to a signal from a lane departure warning system or lane changeaid or the like) so as to activate the display device (or other displaydevice or alert device) to alert the driver of the vehicle as to thepresence of the detected object. Other triggering applications (such as,for example, a manual input to activate an interior rearview monitor orthe like) may be implemented while remaining within the spirit and scopeof the present invention.

Optionally, the display, such as a video display screen, may beincorporated with or associated with a rearward facing video camera orimage sensor, such as for a rear vision system or a backup aid or thelike. Optionally, the display may include a graphic overlay feature orcapability for overlaying graphics, such as grid lines or the like, thatassist the driver of the vehicle in viewing and discerning distancesbetween the vehicle and objects rearward of the vehicle that aredisplayed on the display for viewing by the driver of the vehicle, suchas in response to the vehicle being shifted into a reverse gear or thelike. The graphic overlay feature may be electronically generated at orin the image, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,935; and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/284,543, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 asU.S. Pat. Publication No. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983,and/or U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/971,397, filed Sep. 11,2007, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, a non-electronically generated graphic overlay may beprovided at the display that is viewable or discernible only when thedisplay is activated and is substantially non-viewable or non-visiblewhen the display is deactivated. For example, a graphic overlay (such asgrid lines or the like that provide reference points in the display toassist the driver in discerning or estimating relative distances betweenobjects or between the vehicle and an object that are shown in thedisplayed image) may be established at an element that is disposed at orin front of the display device (such as a backlit LCD video screen suchas the types referenced above) and behind a front surface of theinterior rearview mirror assembly (which is the surface facing thedriver of the vehicle when the mirror assembly is installed in thevehicle). Thus, when the display device is deactivated (or not extendedif the display device is a slideout or extendable/retractable videodisplay), the graphic overlay is not readily viewable or discernible bythe driver of the vehicle.

Optionally, for example, the graphic overlay may be etched or painted orotherwise established at an element or portion that is rearward of thefront surface of the mirror reflective element. For example, the graphicoverlay may be established via printing or etching at a rear surface ofthe display on demand transflective reflective element or at the frontor rear surface of a polarizer that is disposed at the front of thedisplay screen or at a front surface of the display screen (or thegraphic overlay may be established as a masking element at the frontsurface of the display screen) or the like. The non-electronicallyestablished etched or painted or otherwise established graphic overlaythus is always present at the display but is only viewable ordiscernible when the display is activated for viewing by the driver ofthe vehicle (such as in response to the driver shifting the vehicletransmission into a reverse gear). For applications with a slideout orextendable/retractable video display screen (that is retractable intothe mirror casing when not in use and extended therefrom when in use orwhen the display screen is activated), the graphic overlay may beestablished at the front of the display screen (such as at a polarizeror at a masking element or the like), whereby the graphic overlay ismoved with the display screen between the stored or non-use position(where the screen and overlay are within the mirror casing and notviewable by the driver of the vehicle) and the extended or use position(where the screen and overlay are at least partially extended from themirror casing and are viewable by the driver of the vehicle).

The non-electronically established graphic overlay thus is provided infront of a video display screen and is thus backlit by the video displayscreen, whereby the graphic overlay icons or indicia or the like (whichmay be screened or printed onto a mask at the video display screen)appear as shadows with the illumination from the video display screenbeing viewable (such as through the transflective reflective element)through the mask and around the overlay portions or icons or indicia orreticule pattern or the like. Because the graphic overlays areestablished at the display screen and behind the front surface of thereflective element, the non-electronically established graphic overlaysof the present invention avoid the parallax effect that may otherwise beencountered when the driver views a graphic overlay that is at the frontsurface of the reflective element and that is spaced from the videodisplay screen disposed behind the reflective element.

The non-electronically established graphic overlay may be established(such as by painting or printing or screen printing or etchingtechniques or the like) to add grid lines to the display viewed by thedriver of the vehicle, and may be particularly beneficial to displaysutilizing a wide-angle lens at the rearward facing video camera, sincesuch lenses may distort the image that is captured by the camera anddisplayed to the driver of the vehicle. Such “fish eye” lenses thus maygive the driver of the vehicle a distorted rearward view of the backuparea, particularly if the camera is mounted off-center at the rear ofvehicle relative to a centerline of the vehicle. The grid lines or otheroverlays may help the driver to judge distances between the vehiclebumper or trailer hitch and an object rearward of the vehicle, and mayprovide guide lines (such as parallel or converging guide lines) to helpreference the sides of the vehicle. Optionally, the graphic overlay maybe established or painted or printed in different colors to enhanceviewability and discernibility of the graphic overlay.

Examples of such graphic overlays are shown in FIGS. 17-19. For example,and with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18, a non-electronically generatedgraphic overlay 650 may be provided or established at or near or infront of a video display screen so as to be viewable by the driver ofthe vehicle when the display screen is activated. As shown in FIG. 18,the graphic overlay 650 is viewable at the display screen 660 when thedisplay screen is activated, so as to provide a reference to the sideregions and center of the vehicle during a backup operation. Optionally,and as shown in FIG. 19, the graphic overlay 650′ at or in front of adisplay screen 660′ may include horizontal grid lines or references thatinclude numbers that indicate a distance along the road surface at therear of the vehicle and relative to the rear bumper (or other referencepoint or object) of the vehicle.

The present invention thus provides for a static graphic overlay thatmay be established (such as via painting or printing or etching or thelike) on any surface of the mirror glass substrates or the displaymodule or on a graphic overlay substrate or element. For example, thegraphic overlay may be printed (or otherwise established) on the firstsurface (or front surface of the first or front substrate) of theelectro-optic (such as electrochromic) reflective element, or on thesecond surface (or rear surface of the front substrate) or on the thirdsurface (or front surface of the rear substrate) or on the fourthsurface (or rear surface of the rear substrate) of the reflectiveelement or cell. Optionally, for example, the graphic overlay may beprinted or established on any of the laminate surfaces or the TFT glasssurfaces of the display module (such as a back lit liquid crystal videoscreen or module or the like) so as to be disposed at the display moduleand back lit by the illumination source or sources of the displaymodule. Optionally, a graphic overlay element or substrate, such as aMylar element (or other suitable material) with pad printing (or otherprinting or painting or etching) of the graphic overlay or overlays onthe substrate or element, may be disposed at or in front of the displaymodule and behind the front surface of the mirror reflective element,such as between the front and rear substrates of the reflective elementassembly or cell or between the fourth surface of the reflective elementand the front of the display module, or elsewhere in front of thedisplay module so as to be backlit by the illumination source or sourcesof the display module.

The graphic overlay or overlays of the present invention thus may beprinted or established in front of the display device or module (such asin front of the illumination source of the display device or module) soas to be viewable by the driver of the vehicle at the display screen.The graphic overlays may be color printed or may be spectrally selectiveso as to be viewable in color at the display screen.

The static graphic overlays thus may be provided for a display screen ordisplay device that is dedicated to a reverse aid system of backupsystem or rear vision system or the like, whereby the graphic overlaysmay be configured so as to provide the desired information or indicia toassist the driver in viewing and discerning images of the area rearwardof the vehicle, such as during a reverse maneuver. For example, thegraphic overlays may provide perspective indicia to give the driverperspective when viewing the display screen and may provide indicia toindicate distances rearward of the vehicle. For example, the graphicoverlay may provide grid lines or markings at predetermined spacings toprovide enhanced viewing and understanding of the displayed images. Thegraphic overlays thus provide a fixed or static or non-dynamic indiciathat will assist the driver in viewing and discerning or understandingthe displayed images.

The graphic overlays thus may provide a conversion reference to theactual area at the rear of the vehicle. The non-electronically generatedgraphic overlays thus may provide an economical graphic overlay at thedisplay screen of a rear vision system or back up aid, without theincreased costs typically associated with the electronically generatedgraphic overlays. The static graphic overlay at the video mirror displaythus provides a relatively simple and cost effective way to implement agraphic overlay at a display of a rear vision system. The presentinvention thus provides any mirror with a display screen (such as an LCDvideo screen or the like) with mapping or grid lines to assist thedriver in performing back up operations.

Optionally, the display system of the present invention may provideother forms of a graphic overlay, such as icons or text or indicia orthe like, at the display screen. In applications with digital cameras ordigital camera outputs, the digital signals from the digital camera ordigital environment may be readily digitally married with computergraphics or the like and displayed on a display screen. Such digitalsignals may be communicated from the camera to the display device (whichis remote from the camera) via various protocols or nodes, such asBLUETOOTH®, SCP, UBP, J1850, CAN J2284, Fire Wire 1394, MOST, LIN,FlexRay™, Byte Flight and/or the like, or other vehicle-based orin-vehicle communication links or systems (such as WIFI and/or IRDA)and/or the like.

However, in many applications, a camera or image sensor may be selectedor used that provides a non-digital or analog video signal, such as anNTSC signal or a PAL signal or the like. For example, such non-digitalor analog communications may be desired to communication the videosignal from a rear portion of the vehicle to a display system at or neara front portion of the vehicle cabin (typically via wires connectedbetween the camera and the display device). When the analog video signalor images are displayed, it may be desired to provide such graphic ortext or iconistic overlays at the display to enhance the informationprovided by the display screen, such as by utilizing aspects of thedisplay system described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/284,543,filed Nov. 22, 2005 and published Jul. 27, 2006 as U.S. Pat. PublicationNo. US-2006-164230, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,370,983, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The screen display and graphic overlay or overlay screen display of thepresent invention provides an economical video on-screen character oriconistic or graphical overlay for vehicle rear vision assist (such as,for example, a forward, sideward or rearward parking assist or backupaid or the like) and other vehicle-based video or imaging applications.The low cost wiring between the analog camera and the display device maybe utilized, while still providing the graphic overlays on the videoimages being displayed. The overlay screen display thus compriseseconomical circuitry that generates an on-screen display that overlaysuser-defined text or icons or graphical overlays in real-time ontoeither an incoming NTSC or PAL video signal feed (such as is output froman analog video camera) or onto a self-generating background screen,directly onto a video mirror display or other vehicular rear visionapplication or any NTSC or PAL (video in) television signal, DVD signal,VCR signal or the like.

Optionally, in one embodiment, a fixed grid or reticule pattern may beoverlayed onto the real-time rear camera image to indicate one or morephysical reference points (such as, for example, a vehicle bumper, thesides of vehicle, a virtual trailer hitch location, and/or the like) ordistance information or other relevant or desired information. Theoverlay screen display could also overlay monochrome text or coloredtext onto an incoming video source or could display colored text on aself-generated colored background screen (such as, for example, a bluescreen). Text color, blinking, zoom level, cursor positioning, and thebackground color may be controlled from user inputs, such as push-buttoncontrols or the like, or by the vehicle's multiplexed communicationsystem or the like.

Other commands for controlling the video display screen and overlay mayinclude screen clearing, showing/hiding the text, scrolling the text,blinking or flashing or intermittently displaying the text andenabling/disabling translucent text (a feature that allows video to passthrough the text, such as in a similar manner as some televisionnetworks do with their logos). The overlay information may comprisevarious vehicle information to display such information for viewing bythe driver of the vehicle. For example, the overlay information mayinclude GPS coordinates indicating the vehicle's location or a locationof another place, such as a waypoint of a programmed travel route or adestination location or the like, a compass or directional heading ofthe vehicle, the outside temperature, or warnings or alerts, or otherinformation that a driver may wish to see while driving the vehicle.Optionally, the overlay information may comprise telematics information,such as, for example, hands free commands, turn by turn instructions,caller ID, traffic information, and/or the like.

The overlay screen display controller circuitry may be incorporated inthe rearview mirror or at an interface module located between the videosource or camera and the display. For example, and as shown in FIG. 20,a graphic overlay system 700 may include a video signal 710, such as avideo source NTSC composite signal or the like, which may be providedfrom a camera or image sensor to the overlay screen display (OSD)controller 720, such as a microprocessor or FPGA or the like. Thecontroller 720 may generate the overlay information and the video signaland overlay information may be provided to the display 730. Thecontroller 720 thus may function to receive the composite video signal,add the appropriate information (such as icons or indicia or text or thelike) and resends the composite signal out to be displayed at the videodisplay screen.

Using the present invention, graphical overlays and the like may beeconomically generated and overlayed/displayed on a video screenviewable by the driver (such as an interior mirror slide-out videoscreen) by an overlay screen display (OSD) video controller that isreceiving a non-digital analog video signal from a non-digital, analogvideo camera (such as an NTSC analog camera or PAL camera or the like)mounted at the vehicle, such as at the rear of the vehicle to viewrearward when reverse gear is engaged, and that generates the video feedto the video display screen seen by the driver, with a graphic overlaysuperimposed onto the NTSC or similar TV-protocol video feed from therear mounted analog video camera (or other camera mounted elsewhere atthe vehicle with a corresponding field of view).

Optionally, a non-digital or analog video signal (such as an NTSC or PALsignal) may be fed or communicated to an analog to digital (A/D)converter to digitize or convert the signal to a digital format. Thedigitized signal may then be fed or communicated to a microprocessor orcontroller for digital processing, such as for adding a digital graphicoverlay to the images of the video signal. The digitized signal, withdigital graphic overlays, may then pass to a digital to analog (D/A)converter to convert the digitized signal with graphic overlays to anon-digital or analog signal, which is then communicated to the displaydevice or element or screen, such as via known analog signals, such asan NTSC or PAL signal or the like). The display system thus may providegraphic overlays to an analog camera signal so that the video images andgraphic overlays, such as text, indicia, icons or the like, may beviewed at the display screen by the driver of the vehicle. The A/Dconverter, microprocessor and/or D/A converter may be located at anylocation between the analog camera and the display device, such as atthe interior rearview mirror assembly or proximate to or near orassociated with the interior rearview mirror assembly, or elsewhere atthe vehicle, without affecting the scope of the present invention.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include one or more user inputs forcontrolling or activating/deactivating one or more electricalaccessories or devices of or associated with the mirror assembly. Forexample, the mirror assembly may comprise any type of switches orbuttons, such as touch or proximity sensing switches, such as touch orproximity switches of the types described in PCT Application No.PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19, 2003 and published Jul. 15, 2004 asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/058540; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2004/015424, filed May 18, 2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004, asInternational Publication No. WO 2004/103772, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos.6,001,486; 6,310,611; 6,320,282 and 6,627,918; and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/021,065, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,255,451; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/817,874, filedMar. 26, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,224,324; Ser. No. 10/956,749, filedOct. 1, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,446,924; Ser. No. 10/933,842, filedSep. 3, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,860; Ser. No. 11/021,065, filedDec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451; and/or Ser. No. 11/140,396,filed May 27, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,932, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, or the inputs maycomprise other types of buttons or switches, such as those described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,501,387, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/029,695, filed Jan. 5, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,253,723; and/or Ser.No. 11/451,639, filed Jun. 13, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,403, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, or suchas fabric-made position detectors, such as those described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 6,504,531; 6,501,465; 6,492,980; 6,452,479; 6,437,258 and6,369,804, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Other types of switches or buttons or inputs or sensors maybe incorporated to provide the desired function, without affecting thescope of the present invention. The manual inputs or user actuatableinputs or actuators may control or adjust or activate/deactivate one ormore accessories or elements or features. For touch sensitive inputs orapplications or switches, the mirror assembly or accessory module orinput may, when activated, provide a positive feedback (such asactivation of an illumination source or the like, or such as via anaudible signal, such as a chime or the like, or a tactile or hapticsignal, or a rumble device or signal or the like) to the user so thatthe user is made aware that the input was successfully activated.

Optionally, the user inputs or buttons may comprise user inputs for agarage door opening system, such as a vehicle based garage door openingsystem of the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,023,322; 6,396,408;6,362,771 and 5,798,688, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The user inputs may also or otherwisefunction to activate and deactivate a display or function or accessory,and/or may activate/deactivate and/or commence a calibration of acompass system of the mirror assembly and/or vehicle. Optionally, theuser inputs may also or otherwise comprise user inputs for a telematicssystem of the vehicle, such as, for example, an ONSTAR® system as foundin General Motors vehicles and/or such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,862,594; 4,937,945; 5,131,154; 5,255,442; 5,632,092; 5,798,688;5,971,552; 5,924,212; 6,243,003; 6,278,377; 6,420,975; 6,946,978;6,477,464; 6,678,614 and/or 7,004,593, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/645,762, filed Aug. 20, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,796;Ser. No. 10/529,715, filed Mar. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,052;Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 asU.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018; and/or Ser. No. 10/964,512, filedOct. 13, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,308,341, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the display and inputs may be associated with variousaccessories or systems, such as, for example, a tire pressure monitoringsystem or a passenger air bag status or a garage door opening system ora telematics system or any other accessory or system of the mirrorassembly or of the vehicle or of an accessory module or console of thevehicle, such as an accessory module or console of the types describedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,877,888; 6,690,268; 6,824,281; 6,672,744; 6,386,742and 6,124,886, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US03/40611, filed Dec. 19,2003 and published Jul. 15, 2004 as International Publication No. WO2004/058540, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US04/15424, filed May 18,2004 and published on Dec. 2, 2004, as International Publication No. WO2004/103772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/510,813, filedAug. 23, 2002, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No.US-2005-0151396, published Jul. 14, 2005, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the mirror assembly or accessory module may fixedly ornon-movably support one or more other accessories or features, such asone or more electrical or electronic devices or accessories. Forexample, illumination sources or lights, such as map reading lights orone or more other lights or illumination sources, such as illuminationsources of the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268; 5,938,321;5,813,745; 5,820,245; 5,673,994; 5,649,756; 5,178,448; 5,671,996;4,646,210; 4,733,336; 4,807,096; 6,042,253; 6,971,775 and/or 5,669,698,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/054,633, filed Jan. 22, 2002,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,381; and/or Ser. No. 10/933,842, filed Sep. 3,2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,249,860, which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties, may be included in the mirrorassembly. The illumination sources and/or the circuit board may beconnected to one or more buttons or inputs for activating anddeactivating the illumination sources.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may also or otherwise include otheraccessories, such as microphones, such as analog microphones or digitalmicrophones or the like, such as microphones of the types disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,243,003; 6,278,377 and/or 6,420,975, and/or in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/529,715, filed Mar. 30, 2005, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,657,052. Optionally, the mirror assembly may also orotherwise include other accessories, such as a telematics system,speakers, antennas, including global positioning system (GPS) orcellular phone antennas, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552, acommunication module, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688, avoice recorder, a blind spot detection and/or indication system, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,038,577; 6,882,287; 5,929,786 and/or5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/315,675, filedDec. 22, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,720,580; and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2006/026148, filed Jul. 5, 2006 and published Jan. 11, 2007 asInternational Publication No. WO 2007/005942, transmitters and/orreceivers, such as for a garage door opener or a vehicle door unlockingsystem or the like (such as a remote keyless entry system), a digitalnetwork, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,575, a hands-freephone attachment, an imaging system or components or circuitry ordisplay thereof, such as an imaging and/or display system of the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,690,268 and 6,847,487; and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/614,644, filed Sep. 30, 2004; Ser.No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14, 2004; and/or Ser. No. 60/628,709, filedNov. 17, 2004; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/105,757, filedApr. 14, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,526,103; Ser. No. 11/334,139, filedJan. 18, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,400,435; and/or Ser. No. 11/239,980,filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496, a video device forinternal cabin surveillance (such as for sleep detection or driverdrowsiness detection or the like) and/or video telephone function, suchas disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962 and/or 5,877,897, an occupantdetection system and/or interior cabin monitoring system (such as thetypes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,019,411 and/or 6,690,268, and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US2005/042504, filed Nov. 22, 2005 and publishedJun. 1, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/058098; and/or PCTApplication No. PCT/US94/01954, filed Feb. 25, 1994, a heating element,particularly for an exterior mirror application, such as the typesdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/334,139, filed Jan. 18,2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,400,435, a remote keyless entry receiver, aseat occupancy detector, a remote starter control (such as a startersystem utilizing aspects of U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No.60/859,680, filed Nov. 17, 2006, and Ser. No. 60/944,917, filed Jun. 19,2007), a yaw sensor, a clock, a carbon monoxide detector, statusdisplays, such as displays that display a status of a door of thevehicle, a transmission selection (4wd/2wd or traction control (TCS) orthe like), an antilock braking system, a road condition sensing system(that may warn the driver of icy road conditions and/or the like, suchas black ice conditions, such as described in U.S. provisionalapplication Ser. No. 60/872,270, filed Dec. 1, 2006), a trip computer, atire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) receiver (such as described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,124,647; 6,294,989; 6,445,287; 6,472,979 and/or6,731,205; and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/232,324, filedSep. 21, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,423,522, and/or an ONSTAR® systemand/or any other accessory or circuitry or the like (with all of theabove-referenced U.S. patents and PCT applications and U.S. patentapplications and U.S. provisional applications being commonly assigned,and with the disclosures of the referenced U.S. patents and PCTapplications and U.S. patent applications and U.S. provisionalapplications being hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties).

Changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

1. A video display system for a vehicle, said video display systemcomprising: a video display device disposed in a vehicle equipped withsaid video display system so as to be viewable by a driver of theequipped vehicle; a camera disposed at the equipped vehicle and havingan exterior field of view and operable to capture image data; whereinthe field of view of said camera encompasses a blind spot of theequipped vehicle; a control comprising a data processor; wherein saidcontrol, responsive at least in part to processing by said dataprocessor of data captured by at least one sensor of the equippedvehicle, detects an object present exterior of the equipped vehicle thatis in the field of view of said camera; and wherein, responsive todetection of the object present exterior of the equipped vehicle, saidcontrol controls said video display device to episodically andautomatically display video images of the object that are derived fromimage data captured by said camera.
 2. The video display system of claim1, wherein said video display device episodically and automaticallydisplays the video images responsive to determination that the detectedobject is in a projected path of travel of the equipped vehicle.
 3. Thevideo display system of claim 1, wherein said camera is part of anexterior mirror assembly of the equipped vehicle.
 4. The video displaysystem of claim 3, wherein said data processor comprises an imageprocessor, and wherein said control, responsive at least in part toprocessing by said image processor of image data captured by saidcamera, detects the object present exterior of the equipped vehicle anddetermines if the detected object is in a blind spot of the equippedvehicle.
 5. The video display system of claim 1, wherein said videodisplay device is disposed in an interior rearview mirror assembly ofthe equipped vehicle.
 6. The video display system of claim 5, whereinthe displayed video images are viewable through a reflective element ofthe interior rearview mirror assembly of the equipped vehicle.
 7. Thevideo display system of claim 6, wherein said data processor comprisesan image processor, and wherein said control, responsive at least inpart to processing by said image processor of image data captured bysaid camera, detects the object present exterior of the equippedvehicle.
 8. The video display system of claim 1, wherein said dataprocessor comprises an image processor, and wherein said control,responsive at least in part to processing by said image processor ofimage data captured by said camera, detects the object present exteriorof the equipped vehicle and determines if the detected object is in ablind spot of the equipped vehicle.
 9. The video display system of claim1, wherein said video display device is disposed in a windshieldelectronics module disposed at a windshield of the equipped vehicle. 10.The video display system of claim 1, wherein said video display deviceepisodically and automatically displays the video images responsive atleast in part to activation of a turn signal indicator of the equippedvehicle.
 11. The video display system of claim 1, wherein said videodisplay device episodically and automatically displays the video imagesresponsive at least in part to a lane departure warning system of theequipped vehicle.
 12. The video display system of claim 1, wherein saidvideo display device displays video images for viewing by the driver ofthe vehicle responsive at least in part to actuation of a user input inthe vehicle.
 13. The video display system of claim 1, wherein said dataprocessor comprises an image processor, and wherein said image processorcomprises a system-on-a-chip image processor.
 14. The video displaysystem of claim 1, wherein said video display device comprises a videodisplay screen having at least a 3.5 inch diagonal dimension.
 15. Thevideo display system of claim 1, wherein said camera is disposed at arear portion of the equipped vehicle and has at least a rearward fieldof view.
 16. A video display system for a vehicle, said video displaysystem comprising: a video display device disposed in a vehicle equippedwith said video display system so as to be viewable by a driver of theequipped vehicle; wherein said video display device comprises a videodisplay screen having at least a 3.5 inch diagonal dimension; a cameradisposed at the equipped vehicle and having an exterior field of viewand operable to capture image data; wherein said camera is part of anexterior mirror assembly of the equipped vehicle; wherein the field ofview of said camera encompasses a blind spot of the equipped vehicle; acontrol comprising a data processor; wherein said control, responsive atleast in part to processing by said data processor of data captured byat least one sensor of the equipped vehicle, detects an object presentexterior of the equipped vehicle that is in the field of view of saidcamera; and wherein, responsive to detection of the object presentexterior of the equipped vehicle, said control controls said videodisplay device to episodically and automatically display video images ofthe object that are derived from image data captured by said camera. 17.The video display system of claim 16, wherein said video display devicedisplays video images for viewing by the driver of the vehicleresponsive at least in part to actuation of a user input in the vehicle.18. The video display system of claim 16, wherein said data processorcomprises an image processor and wherein said image processor comprisesa system-on-a-chip image processor.
 19. The video display system ofclaim 18, wherein said data processor comprises an image processor, andwherein said control, responsive at least in part to processing by saidimage processor of image data captured by said camera, detects theobject present exterior of the equipped vehicle.
 20. The video displaysystem of claim 16, wherein said data processor comprises an imageprocessor, and wherein said control, responsive at least in part toprocessing by said image processor of image data captured by saidcamera, detects the object present exterior of the equipped vehicle anddetermines if the detected object is in a blind spot of the equippedvehicle.
 21. The video display system of claim 20, wherein said videodisplay device is disposed in an interior rearview mirror assembly ofthe equipped vehicle.
 22. A video display system for a vehicle, saidvideo display system comprising: a video display device disposed in avehicle equipped with said video display system so as to be viewable bya driver of the equipped vehicle; wherein said video display devicecomprises a video display screen having at least a 3.5 inch diagonaldimension; a camera disposed at the equipped vehicle and having anexterior field of view and operable to capture image data; wherein saidcamera is disposed at a rear portion of the equipped vehicle and has atleast a rearward field of view; wherein the field of view of said cameraencompasses a blind spot of the equipped vehicle; a control comprising adata processor; wherein said control, responsive at least in part toprocessing by said data processor of data captured by at least onesensor of the equipped vehicle, detects an object present exterior ofthe equipped vehicle that is in the field of view of said camera; andwherein, responsive to detection of the object present exterior of theequipped vehicle, said control controls said video display device toepisodically and automatically display video images of the object thatare derived from image data captured by said camera.
 23. The videodisplay system of claim 22, wherein said video display device displaysvideo images for viewing by the driver of the vehicle responsive atleast in part to actuation of a user input in the vehicle.
 24. The videodisplay system of claim 22, wherein said data processor comprises animage processor, and wherein said image processor comprises asystem-on-a-chip image processor.
 25. The video display system of claim22, wherein said data processor comprises an image processor, andwherein said control, responsive at least in part to processing by saidimage processor of image data captured by said camera, detects theobject present exterior of the equipped vehicle and determines if thedetected object is in a blind spot of the equipped vehicle.
 26. Thevideo display system of claim 22, wherein said video display device isdisposed in an interior rearview mirror assembly of the equippedvehicle.
 27. The video display system of claim 26, wherein said interiorrearview mirror assembly comprises a mounting structure and a reflectiveelement, and wherein a portable hand-held device is present in theinterior cabin of the equipped vehicle, and wherein said portablehand-held device is operable to communicate a signal to a vehicle-basedreceiver, and wherein said video display device is operable to display alisting of choices in responsive to said communication of said signal,and wherein said listing of choices displayed by said video displaydevice comprises at least one of (a) a listing of voice mail messages ofa portable phone, (b) a listing of phone numbers of a portable phone,(c) a listing of received or transmitted emails, and (d) a listing oftitles or tracks stored in the memory of a portable playback device ordownloadable from an external provider.
 28. The video display system ofclaim 22, wherein said data processor comprises an image processor, andwherein said control, responsive at least in part to processing by saidimage processor of image data captured by said camera, detects theobject present exterior of the equipped vehicle.